Eskom seeks labour deal to complete mega plants

NUM says utility is ‘hiding truth from the public’ over problems

ESKOM will seek to broker a new deal between its contractors and labour at its Kusile site this week, after two unions said yesterday that no work had been done on the mega power station since Thursday as workers protest against working conditions.

Although the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) said Kusile had been idle since Thursday, Eskom spokeswoman Hilary Joffe disputed this, saying that 2,000 staff were on site on Saturday.

Numsa national co-ordinator for the energy and steel sector, Stephen Nhlapo, said labour problems at Kusile, which flared up on Thursday, led to the closure of the site on Saturday.

However, Ms Joffe said by SMS yesterday that there had been no lockout and that talks would begin today to establish a new labour agreement for Kusile.

NUM spokesman Lesiba Seshoka said Eskom was “hiding the truth from the public” and that no work would take place at Kusile “until workers are heard and treated with dignity”.

The problems at Kusile come after Eskom was finally able to broker a ceasefire with labour last month to end 10 weeks of industrial action at Medupi.

Eskom is anxious to avoid a repeat of Medupi’s labour problems at Kusile, and to prevent unrest spreading to Ingula, its pumped storage programme in KwaZulu-Natal.

Ms Joffe said work disruptions at Kusile had continued on Friday, with about two-thirds of workers showing up after a work stoppage the day before.

The “labour unrest” at Kusile was related to inconsistencies in the application of the Project Labour Agreement ( PLA) and other industry agreements, she said in an e-mailed response to questions on Friday.

“Eskom is facilitating a renegotiation of the PLA at Kusile into a partnership arrangement between contractors and labour — along the lines of the process which has already begun at Medupi … talks at Kusile will start next week,” Ms Joffe said.

The first power is supposed to come from Medupi’s unit six by December, but the project is already 18 months late. The delay has played havoc with Eskom’s ability to schedule the continuous maintenance its aged and unpredictable plants require to keep power flowing, raising the spectre of rolling blackouts in winter.

Public Enterprises Minister Malusi Gigaba warned on a site visit to Medupi last week that failure to meet the December deadline “is not an option”. Further delays would be met with strong action, including “tough penalties for anyone who is responsible”.

He insisted that contractors and Eskom improve their ability to manage industrial relations.

Eskom CEO Brian Dames said last week that work had already started at Medupi on creating a forum to devise a new labour agreement that accommodated labour’s concerns and addressed the contractors’ need for increased productivity on site.

Mr Nhlapo said workers appreciated the need for Eskom’s capital programme deadlines to be met but could not be held to the PLA as it stripped them of their right to strike and bargain for wages. The PLA has been abandoned at Medupi after workers rejected it for the same reasons.

Workers had grown frustrated with conditions at the Kusile site such as accommodation — one contractor has workers living next to a raw-sewage treatment plant — the poor quality of food and delays in the payment of bonuses, Mr Nhlapo said. Complaints were not dealt with, forcing workers to strike to get contractors to take their concerns seriously, he said.