Deadlock has not yet been reached in the wage negotiations between electricity parastatal Eskom and the labour unions, the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) said on Friday.

"The mediation is still at a stage where the parties are trying to conciliate, as is the recognised process in terms of the Labour Relations Act," CCMA director, Nerine Kahn said.

Kahn added in a statement that the process was not at the strike stage.

"The CCMA always encourages the importance of discussion and negotiation," she said.

The CCMA would hold separate meetings with Eskom in an attempt to resolve the dispute.

"The CCMA National Senior Commissioner mediating the Eskom, National Union of Mineworkers, National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa and Solidarity wage dispute has requested additional time to hold further talks with Eskom in a bid to help resolve outstanding issues," Kahn said.

The CCMA would hold talks with Eskom at the weekend and parties were expected to reconvene on Monday.

This followed rejection of Eskom's revised offer tabled to labour on Thursday, after meetings held on Monday and Tuesday this week.

Eskom had offered workers an 8% wage increase as well as a one-off bonus of 1% of their annual salary.

The unions, however, wanted an increase of 15%.

Trade union Solidarity told Sapa on Friday that it understood the CCMA would engage with Eskom over the next two days.

"The Commissioner wants to engage with [Eskom CEO] Brian Dames himself to try to get a solution to the current dispute," Solidarity's spokesperson Dirk Hermann said.

He added that the housing allowance was also in dispute and the commissioner would discuss the issue with Eskom.

Workers had demanded a housing subsidy of R5 000 per month, as management was apparently recently granted a similar perk, said Hermann.

The trade unions would meet at the CCMA on Monday to hear whether Eskom had moved on its wage offer as well as the housing allowance.

"If there is no movement from Eskom the Commissioner will issue a non-resolution certificate.

"But whatever the situation is, we will have to go back to our members and they will decide what the next step will be."

Hermann said that if Solidarity's members wanted to engage in industrial action, notice to strike would be given around the end of next week.