Reuters reports that strike action has begun at Eskom on Monday with members of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) downing tools at three power stations.<\/p>\n
The news agency said that more would follow as NUM’s 14,824 members across all regions are prepared to strike.<\/span><\/p>\n Paris Mashego, NUM’s energy sector coordinator, told Reuters that wage talks with the utility were in deadlock over the weekend.<\/p>\n Eskom is reported to have offered a wage increase of 7%, which has been rejected by NUM. The union’s demands include a one year wage agreement, of 12% increase for maximum <\/span>wage earners <\/span>and a 13% increase for minimum wage earners. Negotiations initially started at 18% for minimum wage earners and 16% for maximum wage earners.<\/span><\/p>\n In July, Eskom reported an increase in its bottom line profit for the year ending March 2016, to R4.6 billion, while revenue rose 10.6% to R163.4 billion.<\/p>\n Strike action comes on the day that Eskom celebrates a year of no load-shedding which plagued the country in 2015.<\/p>\n “Today we proudly celebrate 1 year of no load shedding, an achievement in Eskom\u2019s turn-around strategy of supplying reliable electricity,” Eskom said on social media site, Twitter.<\/p>\n How much money Eskom makes per customer<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Eskom gets the go-ahead to apply for more price hikes<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n
\n<\/span><\/p>\nMore on South Africa<\/span><\/strong><\/h3>\n