South African electric utility organisation Eskom has agreed a three-year pay deal with trade unions representing its permanent employees.
The deal, which will apply between 1 July 2018 and 30 June 2021, includes a 7.5% pay increase for 2018, a 7% pay rise in 2019-2020 and a further 7% increase in 2020-2021. Employees who participated in the bargaining forum also received a one-off 10,000 rand (£519.16) cash payment, after tax deductions. This was paid in the 48-hours after the pay agreement was formally signed on 30 August 2018.
In addition, employees’ housing allowance will be increased by the consumer price index (CPI) for each year of the wage agreement, and the conditions of service will remain unchanged for the same duration. The review of Eskom’s current short-term incentive scheme will be referred for further engagement at the Central Consultative Forum (CCF) negotiations.
Elsie Pule, group executive for human resources at Eskom, said: “Eskom wishes to thank all the parties involved in the negotiation process for their endeavour to find an amicable solution. The conclusion of these negotiations enables us to firmly focus on the Eskom of the future and building a sustainable business to power the nation and grow the economy.”
Eskom agreed the pay deal with the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA) and Solidarity.
Irvin Jim, general secretary at NUMSA, added: “We thank our members for demonstrating militant discipline in the face of extreme provocation by the employer. We started at 0% and thanks to [members’] efforts, we have secured an increase. We are also grateful to members of the negotiating team who worked tirelessly to resolve the impasse.”
NUM and Solidarity are unavailable for comment at the time of publication.