SACTWU opposes Eskom’s electricity tariff hike application

We also heard from Simon Eppel - A researcher for the Southern African Labour Research Institute or SALRI to tell us more about why the Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers’ Union is opposing Eskom’s electricity tariff hike application. SALRI is a trade union research unit associated with SACTWU. SACTWU members are currently protesting at the NERSA hearings into ESKOM’s electricity tariff hike application that’s currently underway in Johannesburg. The trade union’s concerns are that companies have indicated generally overwhelmingly that there could be large scale retrenchments and also factory closures and therefore they cannot condone actions which threaten the jobs of local workers particularly in the context in which there is such massive unemployment, such poverty and inequality in South Africa. They have been allocated a slot to make a formal submission in that regard today. For more information about SACTWU go to www.sactwu.org.za or contact their offices on (021) 447 4570.