Pretoria – The Constitutional Court of South Africa has dismissed an application for leave to appeal by trade union Solidarity regarding a disputed agreement with Eskom which dates back 17 years.
The union alleged that Eskom had entered into an oral agreement with it 17 years ago to make a yearly, once-off non-pensionable payment equal to double the basic salaries of some of the senior employees at the Koeberg power station.
In addition, the union alleged that the agreement included a system of early retirement to these employees in terms of which they would be credited with condoned service of six months service for each year served as a licensed operator, or pro rata for part thereof in addition to the 12 months ordinarily credited.
According to a statement from Eskom on Thursday, the union claimed the verbal contract was entered into in 1998.
“Throughout all these years, Eskom’s response has always been that no agreement had been entered into, and that only proposals had been discussed between the parties,” Eskom said.
Following a protracted 17-year legal battle between the two parties, the Constitution Court last week ruled against Solidarity, stating that “the application should be dismissed as it bears no prospect of success”.
Eskom’s legal team will now proceed to recover its legal costs from Solidarity. - SAnews.gov.za
