2010-01-18

Over one thousand workers will today march to present a memorandum of grievances to both Optic I and Eskom over a plethora of  woes. Marchers will gather at 11H00 this morning in Deneysville in the Vaal. Optic 1, a company contracted to Eskom to install transmission lines has over the years exploited its workforce, discouraged workers from reporting accidents and deaths and fired all those who did report.

Two weeks ago, the company fired over 600 of its workforce who refused to be silenced. “We called on Eskom to intervene and clearly there has not been a serious intervention, and we are now giving the company the last chance to sort out its problems” says Job Matsepe, the NUM ‘s Energy Sector Coordinator. “We are appealing to Eskom to listen this time around, chop the contractor and employ these workers. Transmission is serious business to be left out to a silly contractor” says Matsepe.