- Eskom raised its salary increase proposal to 6%, up from an initial 5.5%.
- Both NUM and Numsa rejected the offer, maintaining demands for a 12% rise.
- The dispute follows Eskom’s first annual profit in eight years and a halt to national blackouts.
South Africa’s state-owned power utility, Eskom, has hit a deadlock in salary negotiations after major trade unions rejected its latest pay proposal.
Despite the utility’s recent return to profitability and a stabilized power grid, labour representatives argue the current offer fails to meet worker expectations.
NUM, which originally sought a 15% increase, has lowered its demand to 12%, yet spokesperson Livhuwani Mammburu confirmed members still find the utility’s improved offer unacceptable.
The timing is particularly sensitive for Eskom.
After years of dragging down the national economy through chronic power cuts and financial instability, improved performance at coal-fired stations has finally ended the rolling outages.
This newfound stability, however, appears to have emboldened unions to seek a greater share of the utility’s financial recovery.
Kaya Biz with Gugulethu Mfuphi spoke to Khangela Baloyi, NUM National Energy Sector Coordinator, who explains why this 6% offer, above inflation at 3.6%, is still unacceptable to NUM.
Listen to the full conversation here:
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