Eskom Workforce May Return to Work on Wednesday Following Wage Talks

Following a productive meeting earlier today – Tuesday 28 June – between Eskom and union leadership, Eskom has confirmed that it has agreed in-principle with the recognised labour unions on the way forward in the wage talks on Friday at the Central Bargaining Forum.

Subsequent to this agreement, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) have urged their members to return to work immediately.

Eskom said in a statement that it wishes to urge all employees to return to their workstations immediately to relieve the pressure on the system and to deliver the service the people of South Africa expect from Eskom, and to assist in restoring generation performance impacted by the strike.

“Eskom would also like to pay tribute and thank those many employees who keep going beyond the call of duty and continue to help the keep the lights on during this very challenging time,” said the power utility.

“We also wish to thank the members of the South African Police Services who played a key role in ensuring that disruptions of law and order were minimised at power stations during the strike.”

Eskom stressed however that “while the workforce might have returned to work by tomorrow, the system will still take some time to recover. As a result of the strike, maintenance work has had to be postponed, and this backlog will take time to clear.”

Source: Eskom.co.za