Pravin committed to wage talks

Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan has committed to asking Eskom to resume stalled wage negotiations with labour unions, his office said yesterday.

The ministry said Gordhan met with members of the Eskom board and representatives of trade union federation Cosatu on Monday in a bid to “understand the concerns from organised labour about the wage dispute with Eskom and related matters”.

In response, Cosatu officials listed the power utility’s refusal to offer a wage increase, the manner in which negotiations have been conducted, and concerns about the impact of the independent power producers’ programme on jobs in the mining sector.

Gordhan, in turn, explained the fraught financial environment in which Eskom was operating and the fact that it was unsustainable for the utility to continue borrowing money to pay its wage bill.

The minister also stressed that government doesn’t have the money to continue bailing out distressed state-owned enterprises.

However, Gordhan also made it plain clear that it wasn’t proper for the power utility to raise its wish to downsize its staff component of about 47 000 – to which the unions are opposed – in the current clash on wages.

“The minister agreed that it was improper to raise the issue of downsizing at the same time as the current wage negotiations,” public enterprises said.

“The minister undertook to discuss the resumption of negotiations.” – ANA