• The National Union of Mineworkers wants a 15% raise for 15,000 Eskom workers, saying new Eskom companies must stick to current wage deals.

• Eskom made R16-billion profit this year and says it will talk to unions soon, but hard negotiations are expected.

Eskom workers are demanding more money after the power company made its first profit in eight years.

The National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), which represents about 15,000 Eskom workers, wants a 15% pay increase. The demand is much higher than the country’s inflation rate of 3.3%.

NUM’s energy sector coordinator Khangela Baloyi said the demand was sent through Eskom’s main bargaining forum.

Eskom made R16.05-billion profit for the year ending March 2025, showing it is starting to recover after years of power cuts and financial losses.

Eskom spokesperson Daphne Mokwena said the company is ready to talk to unions. “We are committed to fair and open talks,” she said.

Baloyi said Eskom’s plan to let its new companies, generation, transmission and distribution, make their own wage deals could break up the unions.

“Decentralising the bargaining will kill the trade unions,” he said. He added that NUM wants all new companies to follow the same agreements made with Eskom’s head office.

Eskom is being split into smaller companies to make it work better and to allow private power producers to join the market.

Previous wage talks were tough and sometimes led to strikes. The last deal gave workers a 7% yearly increase. That agreement ends in 2026, setting the stage for another heated round.

Pictured above: Eskom.

Image source: File