Numsa to present its wage demands to Eskom on Tuesday

The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) says it will be presenting its wage demands to Eskom in the first round of talks on Tuesday at the Central Bargaining Forum.

The current wage agreement is lapsing on the 30th of June. Some of the demands include a 15% wage increase. Numsa has rejected claims by Eskom of a link between power cuts and wage talks.

Eskom’s operating costs are around R164 billion per year. Out of that coal costs plus the REIPP costs make up approximately 55% of these operating costs, which is equal to around R90 billion.
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— NUMSA (@Numsa_Media) May 3, 2021

Numsa ‘s spokesperson Phakamile Hlubi Majola says, “We’ve not even had the first round of talks yet but already the dirty tricks have started. We reject the desperate attempt by Eskom, in its latest statement to link power cuts to wage talks. It is an objective fact that the current management of Eskom under the leadership of Andre De Ruyter is failing to keep the lights on. And under his watch, the country has experienced the worst case of load shedding in history. The poor and the working class living in our township are subjected to nearly five hours of rolling blackouts every day through load reduction. Eskom management is trying to cover up for its glaring failure to guarantee the electricity supply.”