Saturday, June 09, 2018

NUM Members Call for a Total Shutdown
7 June 2018

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) is disgusted by the level of brutal arrogance shown by the black majority led Eskom negotiating team. The negotiation team has suspended their ability to reason and decided to stick to the straight jacket mandate of 0% to all demands from NUM. We view this approach by the Eskom negotiating team as a wasteful and fruitless exercise. They had the audacity to call a special and highly armed force to intimidate the NUM negotiating team.

Amongst all the increases that are introduced in the country starting from VAT and petrol and also the fact that electricity tariffs are going to go up through their MYPD application, they have the audacity to say that they are not giving the workers anything; instead they want to minimize or even suspend the hard-earned negotiated conditions of Service unilaterally. Under these circumstances, NUM members are calling for a national shutdown of electricity supply.

It is a painful decision that the brutal Eskom negotiating team pushed our members to take. We will be communicating a program of action which will run at the national, provincial and branch levels.

This cruel approach to the negotiations is a spit in the hard-working employees' faces, it was not long ago when the country was facing load shedding and the call was made that all hands on deck to try and rescue the situation, that call was answered by the workers with full commitment, and the results were astounding no load shedding ever took place in this country again. Our members are saying a 0% increase equal to 0% megawatt. We urge all hospitals and other national strategic areas to prepare themselves by using backup generators to minimize the damage from the coming total blackout. Eskom workers are tired of being treated like machines. Workers are saying the battle line has been drawn by the reckless decisions by Eskom management.

The executive decisions that led to the organization`s financial woes can never be the worker's burden, therefore, it can never be correct to make the hard working workers' pay for irresponsible decisions. Eskom`s 0% offer is yet another imprudent decision aiming at frustrating the workers and in the process deal with them when they retaliate on such an undermining stance towards them.

An organization's call to only employ internally was never heeded to when Phakamani Hadebe was employed as CEO and the first thing this man comes to do is to reduce worker numbers whereas he himself is an addition with a huge package.

The NUM calls for his immediate resignation and a CEO must be sourced from within the organization.

The NUM has no option but to react harshly and firm to this nonsensical offer by making sure that our anger is felt right up to the bone marrow of Eskom. A total shutdown is looming.

For more information, please contact:

Paris Mashego: NUM Energy Sector Coordinator: 079 517 1758
Livhuwani Mammburu: NUM National Spokesman: 083 809 3257

The National Union of Mineworkers

7 Rissik Street
Cnr Frederick
Johannesburg
Tel: 011 377 2111
Cell: 083 809 3257
Web: www.num.org.za
Twitter: @Num_Media
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NUM/100860023402167

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