Eskom workers have secured a three-year above-inflation wage increase of 7% across the board, bringing to an end months of intense negotiations that went on for four rounds.
The wage agreement and the conclusion of wage talks were confirmed by Eskom and trade unions today at the Central Bargaining Forum.
The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa), and Solidarity all agreed on a 7% salary increase for all non-managerial employees over three-years, effective from July 1, 2023 to June 30, 2026.
This is in spite of some workers initially demanding a wage increase of 15%, R7 000 housing allowances, and standardised R1 000 cellphone allowances among other demands, while Eskom was initially offered a below-inflation increase of 3.75%.
Annual consumer inflation has softened to 6.8% from 7.1%, the lowest reading in a year.
In addition, the parties agreed to a 7% increase in the housing allowance over the three-year period, and a once-off taxable payment of R10 000 for the first two years.
Eskom’s acting group CEO Calib Cassim said this wage settlement will bring stability, after fears of a workers’ strike in case of a deadlock, which would have worsened load shedding.
“The collective agreement will go a long way in stabilising the power utility by providing Eskom with sufficient space and time to collaboratively work together to urgently address our most pressing challenges,” Calib said.
“It is worth noting that this is the first time in more than a decade that the parties have reached agreement in the room,” he added.
Eskom has expressed gratitude to all the parties for their commitment to this process and for placing Eskom and the interests of all South Africans first.
Numsa spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi-Majola said they view this agreement as a victory for workers at Eskom, who have been denied meaningful increases since the 2016/2017 financial year.
Hlubi-Majola said this agreement was a sign of an improvement in their relationship with Eskom, adding that they wanted to continue on this path.
“And part of our contribution is the signing of a multi-year agreement so that there is labour stability. This will allow workers at Eskom to focus on quality maintenance, without interrupting that process with annual wage talks,” Hlubi-Majola said.
“We promised South Africans that we would do everything in our power to prevent a repetition of last year where workers were provoked into picketing and protesting at power stations, and we have upheld that promise. We managed to secure an agreement without deadlocking, and we did it before the end of June, which is when the old agreement expires,” Hlubi-Majola said.