NUMSA secures 7% wage increase at Eskom
15 June 2023
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) has signed the wage proposal at Eskom which was negotiated in the Centralized Bargaining Forum of Eskom.
The agreement is broken down in the following way:
- This is a three year agreement which is valid from 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2026
- Wages will be increased by 7% across the board for year one, 7% for year two and 7% for year three.
- The increase for year one will be implemented from the 30th of June 2023 and will be implemented in term of Eskom’s remuneration principles
- Housing allowance will be increased by 7% for year one, 7% for year two and 7% for year three.
- Eskom shall pay a once off taxable payment of R10 000 to all employees for year one of the agreement. And again, in the 2nd year of the agreement, a once-off taxable payment of R10 000 will be paid to workers.
Parties have further agreed to engage on the following issues within the next 12 month period:
Income differentials and salary disparities
- Jan H smith Loan
- Business scheme vehicle and cellphone allowances
- Fixed daily allowances
- Reimbursement for business travel
- Moratorium on the closure of power stations
NUMSA views this agreement as a victory for workers at Eskom who have been denied meaningful increases since the 2016/2017 financial year. We are coming from a dark period where Eskom was led by the racist, clueless Andre De Ruyter who plunged the country into rolling blackouts, because of his refusal to drive quality maintenance at power stations. We are in the process of trying to recover and repair what was destroyed during Andre’s tenure. At the same time, the same Andre De Ruyter, tried to collapse centralized bargaining by imposing 1.5% increase on the workforce. But he refused to intervene on Eskom’s true cost drivers, namely, coal costs, REIPP’s and diesel costs. He wanted workers to pay for Eskom’s financial challenges and used them as a scapegoat for his glaring failures to motivate workers, and to drive a program to increase the Energy Availability Factor at the power utility.
NUMSA wants to assure the public that we are playing a progressive role in trying to repair the damage caused by Andre’s incompetence. This agreement is a sign of an improvement in the relationship with Eskom. We want 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 allows workers at Eskom to focus on quality maintenance, without interrupting that process with annual wage talks. 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.
We want to thank our negotiating team which worked tirelessly to secure this agreement and settle this round of wage talks. We are deeply grateful to them for their hard work. NUMSA is a sword and a shield for the working class and we will continue to fight for improvements in wages and benefits, for the producers of wealth in this country.
Aluta continua!
The struggle continues!
Issued by Irvin Jim, NUMSA General Secretary, 15 June 2023
