Eskom in deal with unions, contractors

[miningmx.com] – ESKOM said it had signed a partnership agreement with contractors and trade unions that would stabilise labour relations at the state-owned power firm’s two new power installations, Medupi and Kusile.

“The new partnership agreement will ultimately replace the old Project Labour Agreements [PLA] which governed the Medupi and Kusile sites, and has been signed by Eskom, the contractors who employ most of the labour, and organised labour at both sites,” Eskom CEO Brian Dames said.

The agreement was aimed at ensuring “consistent and acceptable treatment” of workers at Kusile in Mpumalanga, and Medupi in Limpopo, Dames said.

“This… commits all the partners… to work together to deliver Medupi and Kusile and provide the new capacity needed to support growth and development for South Africa,” Dames said.

Earlier in the year, workers at Medupi brought construction to a halt for almost eight weeks by striking. The strike ended when the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) and contractors reached a resolution on the PLA.