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Eskom is currently in wage negotiations with its three recognised trade unions, the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and Solidarity that commenced in May 2016. The third round which was planned to be the last one was held on 20 – 22 June 2016.  Eskom presented its final offer of 7% across the board for all employees. At the end of the proceedings the Trade Unions requested time to engage their respective membership and revert back to Eskom. A final round of negotiations has therefore been scheduled for 13 - 15 July 2016.

The Trade Unions tabled a range of demands on the increase in basic salary ranging between 9.5% and 20%. Demands around the improvement of current employee benefits and the introduction of new benefits implied an increase in the total cost of employment of between 10% and 35%.

In terms of the Eskom Conditions of Service, Bargaining Unit employee salary increases are due for implementation annually on 1 July.

During the 9 days of negotiations, the trade unions made limited adjustments to any of the demands tabled. Eskom on 22 June 2016 tabled a final salary offer with the following key elements:

• A 7% across the board increase for all employees.
• Eskom tabled a further increase based on a sliding scale ranging between 0 and 2% for employees in the lower half of the salary scale. The implication is that employees will receive a salary increase ranging between 7% and 9% if the Eskom offer is implemented. The implication being that 44% of bargaining unit employees will receive an increase of between 8% and 9%
• The offer also includes an adjustment of 5.6% to key allowances impacting on the operational side of the business.

Eskom remains committed to engaging organized labour in terms of our existing agreements on matters pertaining to bargaining unit employees and their conditions of service as well as transformation.

Eskom has always been open and transparent on the issue of executive remuneration and bonuses, and there will not be any exception on this matter for the past financial year. Further details on this will be provided in the 2016 annual financial results which will be announced in July.

In our engagements on the 23rd July 2016 on the payment of performance bonuses for the previous financial year, it was raised that there is a perception that black women are paid less than their counterparts.

Statistics from the latest report by Eskom’s Employment Equity Committees seem to point to the fact that black women are indeed rated lower than their counterparts during performance appraisal cycles. As a collective, management and organised labour are required to come up with interventions to eradicate these barriers.

Based on this shared responsibility, the recent statement by NUM is therefore inaccurate, malicious and misleading. Eskom remains committed to the advancement of women, especially black women. We stand by this commitment and we have repeatedly placed sufficient evidence on record to demonstrate the role Eskom is playing in the advancement of designated groups and black women in particular. We urge the NUM to engage Eskom in a constructive manner to be part of this process to deal with legacies of the past.

Issued by Eskom