Eskom said it was shocked to hear about the demands and plans for what it termed the illegal strike at Medupi Power Station last week, because the unions didn’t go through the agreed upon channels that would have avoided the current problems.<\/p>\n
Eskom, which is currently mediating negotiations between workers and the contractors, said on Wednesday their Partnership Agreement (PA) with unions was set up to avoid such incidents, but that this process was not used last week.<\/p>\n
Eskom said in a statement on Wednesday it would meet with the unions to \u201cdiscuss its discontent at last week\u2019s incident as Eskom has invested a significant sum of time and resources on the PA for the purposes of addressing the plight of workers and achieving peace and stability on the Medupi and Kusile projects\u201d.<\/p>\n
After a disciplinary hearing this week, Medupi Power Station’s contractors have fired or handed out written warnings to employees who went on the illegal strike.<\/p>\n
Last week, about 1 000 workers were fired for vandalising property, Eskom said.<\/p>\n
The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) said workers, mostly from Numsa, embarked on a protest action on 25 March to highlight their plight or grievances.<\/p>\n
“Numsa is convinced that workers’ reasonable demands can be resolved by Eskom, without any undue disruption of work,” Numsa said at the time.<\/p>\n
Eskom said the number of affected workers was 1 700, while the total complement for the construction project was around 14 000.<\/p>\n
Eskom acted swiftly last week, locking all workers involved in the strike out of the power station to avert destruction to property and sent an SMS warning to workers.<\/p>\n
Numsa said the SMS read: \u201cDear employee, with effect from 27 March 2015, you are not required to report for duty. The company will proceed and implement disciplinary processes forthwith and you will be notified accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n
That disciplinary hearing took place, Eskom spokesperson Khulu Phasiwe told Fin24 on Wednesday, adding that Eskom was mediating between the Medupi contractors and their staff.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people who participated in the illegal strike have received final warnings, while others have been fired,\u201d he told Fin24.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe met the unions yesterday [Tuesday] because Eskom and the contractors wanted to know what the issues were,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo formal agreement has been reached as we are still negotiating,\u201d Phasiwe said. \u201cAs is normal practice, the contractors have gone on leave over the Easter break and will only get back on April 8, when we will be able to take the negotiations forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people have grievances then there are certain protocols,\u201d Phasiwe told Fin24, explaining the PA process. \u201cWe are not trying to crush them from exercising their rights. The PA was formed in 2013 to avoid circumstances like these.”<\/p>\n
Following the signing of the PA, work stoppages were brought down to a minimum and workers benefiting out of better working conditions, Eskom said.<\/p>\n
“The PA further created engagement platforms for all parties to the partnership to resolve areas of difference on the employee relations front, be it even on an urgent basis.<\/p>\n
“This would, therefore, create conducive conditions for partners to work with each other in achieving peace, stability and production on the projects.<\/p>\n
“Eskom expects all the parties involved to double their efforts in order to maintain long-term site stability and achieve desired levels of productivity.<\/p>\n
“It\u2019s a formal process where they meet on a regular basis. It is why we were so shocked when the illegal strike took place last week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Numsa said the key demands by workers were:<\/p>\n
Medupi produces first power<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Medupi unit six coming online in the next month<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Medupi issue could put SA power at risk: expert<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n