Eskom in bid to keep lights on as strike looms

ESKOM is hoping to prevent a strike by thousands of workers which could result in interruptions to the supply of power, something the power utility has managed to avoid in the past year.

Spokesman Khulu Phasiwe said yesterday that Eskom would meet the National Union of Mineworkers today in an attempt to reach an agreement about the wage dispute.

The union wants a 10% increase for the lowest-paid workers and an 8.5% increase for the highest, while Eskom is offering a 7% increase across the board.

Phasiwe said if about 15 000 workers embarked on the unprotected strike, it could result in power cuts. He insisted, however, that the utility would take every precaution to prevent that and said no interruptions to the power grid had taken place yet.

Eskom also obtained a court interdict to prevent workers from striking, arguing that Eskom provided an essential service to the country.

But NUM spokesman Livhuwani Mammburu countered that the workers’ right to strike was enshrined in the constitution.

“An essential service can’t supersede the constitution of the country,” he said. It was “shameful and unacceptable” for Eskom to rush to court.

The Police and Prisons Civil Rights Union said it supported the NUM workers and said Eskom’s wage structure “continued apartheid wage disparities based on race”.

“The wage disparities for similar work should urgently be done away with,” Popcru spokesman Richard Mamabolo said.