Read this article in:
10 August, 2005ICEM News release No. 48/2001
A three-day power strike across South Africa has ended in victory for the country's electricity unions.
In a statement issued this evening, the unions say they have "signed the proposed collective bargaining wage agreement after the 21 000 workers accepted the current revised settlement proposal from the Eskom company." Eskom is South Africa's parastatal power utility.
Launched on Tuesday, the nationwide strike "will effectively end tomorrow 27/07/2001 starting with the first shift at 6H00 in the morning," the unions declare.
The settlement includes:
· A 9 percent wage increase effective now for the lowest paid workers and a further 1 percent effective in January 2002.
· A 7 percent wage increase effective now for the highest paid workers and a further 0.5 percent effective in January 2002.
· Four months' paid maternity leave.
Two of the unions involved in the strike, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), are affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which declared its solidarity with the South African unions' campaign.
The ICEM has also expressed its support for South Africa's miners, who have given the NUM a massive mandate for strike action over a wage claim and other issues. Talks with the mining employers, particularly the gold producers, are scheduled to resume tomorrow.
As for the Eskom package, the statement issued by NUMSA this evening said that it "will go a long way to addressing the short and long-term needs of workers. The agreement will create certainty for workers and improve their purchasing power. This victory will boost morale and show to all workers that they have power to change their wages and working conditions."
The strike began after Eskom tried to set the level of wage increases unilaterally, but the Labour Court ruled yesterday that the company did not have the right to do so. "We hope the company and the government will learn a lesson on this case," the union statement emphasised. "We trust and hope that the Eskom company in future wage negotiations would not adopt the same paternalistic and parochial approach to the wage talks. The unions salute all workers who took part in the strike and congratulate them on a great victory."
In a statement issued this evening, the unions say they have "signed the proposed collective bargaining wage agreement after the 21 000 workers accepted the current revised settlement proposal from the Eskom company." Eskom is South Africa's parastatal power utility.
Launched on Tuesday, the nationwide strike "will effectively end tomorrow 27/07/2001 starting with the first shift at 6H00 in the morning," the unions declare.
The settlement includes:
· A 9 percent wage increase effective now for the lowest paid workers and a further 1 percent effective in January 2002.
· A 7 percent wage increase effective now for the highest paid workers and a further 0.5 percent effective in January 2002.
· Four months' paid maternity leave.
Two of the unions involved in the strike, the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) and the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (NUMSA), are affiliated at the global level to the 20-million-strong International Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions (ICEM), which declared its solidarity with the South African unions' campaign.
The ICEM has also expressed its support for South Africa's miners, who have given the NUM a massive mandate for strike action over a wage claim and other issues. Talks with the mining employers, particularly the gold producers, are scheduled to resume tomorrow.
As for the Eskom package, the statement issued by NUMSA this evening said that it "will go a long way to addressing the short and long-term needs of workers. The agreement will create certainty for workers and improve their purchasing power. This victory will boost morale and show to all workers that they have power to change their wages and working conditions."
The strike began after Eskom tried to set the level of wage increases unilaterally, but the Labour Court ruled yesterday that the company did not have the right to do so. "We hope the company and the government will learn a lesson on this case," the union statement emphasised. "We trust and hope that the Eskom company in future wage negotiations would not adopt the same paternalistic and parochial approach to the wage talks. The unions salute all workers who took part in the strike and congratulate them on a great victory."