On the brink of what is expected by some experts to be one of the most serious strikes South Africa will endure, the public is waiting with bated breath for the outcome of Numsa’s ultimatum to Eskom.
Despite the fact that the Labour Court has issued an indictment that prevents Eskom employees to strike because they are regarded as rendering an essential service, Numsa has warned that they will submerge the country in a ‘total blackout’ by encouraging their members to go on an unprotected strike.
Numsa Secretary General Irvin Jim has said “they will not allow Eskom to hide behind the law”.
Numsa has given Eskom until Friday to respond to their demands. It is unclear whether the 2 000-odd employees who picketed in front of Eskom’s Megawatt Park offices will stay away. Eskom spokesperson Andrew Etzinger has indicated that the ‘no work, no pay’ rule will apply.
In the meanwhile the record has spoken to various companies in the engineering, steel and metal industry in Roodepoort. Without fail they did not want their names to be published out of fear of victimisation.
The degree to which they have been affected has ranged from ‘no one at the offices due to the strike’ to one company saying that although their production has not been affected directly, they have suffered great losses in sales.
The owner of another engineering company in Robertville did not want to discuss the matter over the phone saying he could not be sure whether the journalist was a Numsa representative. From the discussions it was clear that most of these companies fear acts of intimidation against them.
It is estimated that for every day a worker stays away from work the industry loses more than R300 million, and that the current strike, depending on its length and whether Eskom employees also participate, will have a greater impact than the recent platinum strike.
