28 August 2007, A stock image of the Johannesburg skyline at night. Picture: Shayne Robinson XSR003 28 August 2007, A stock image of the Johannesburg skyline at night. Picture: Shayne Robinson XSR003
POLOKO TAU
poloko.tau@inl.co.za
UNIONS representing Eskom workers said members have shown a keen appetite for a strike with extensive industrial action that could create power supply problems.
The state-owned power utility has, however, downplayed any negative impact if workers downed tools in upcoming weeks, saying “there was some protest action at a couple of other power stations, (all of which) continued to operate, and there was no impact on the country’s power supply”.
The National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) was, however, expecting some impact on power supply and the economy.
Numsa sector co-ordinator for basic metals and energy Stephen Nhlapo said yesterday that workers were intending to exert pressure on Eskom to come up with a revised offer.
A deadlock was declared last week in wage negotiations, with unions asking for a double-digit increase while Eskom stood firm at 5.6 percent.
Numsa and the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) said their members had already staged some protests at Eskom power stations like Matla this week, adding that more of those can be expected after workers ran out of patience.
NUM accused Eskom of abusing its status of being an essential service, thus preventing workers from going on a protected strike. It said Eskom had been negotiating in bad faith.
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