Former Eskom Workers Demand For Salary Upgrade Before Joining UEGCL
- Written by Earthfinds
- Published in Energy
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Guests tour Nalubaale Power Station at the ceremony where Eskom handed over the facility to the government of Uganda.
The takeover of Nalubaale and Kiira hydroelectric power generation plants by Uganda Electricity Generation Company Limited (UEGCL) is not a smooth one.
News coming in from Jinja is that the former employees of Eskom Uganda Limited are making a salary upgrade to be at par with the government (UEGCL) scale.
It is understood that Eskom has been paying low salaries and now the former employees of the exiting South African energy firm have their new salaries to match that of UEDCL.
UEGCL was maintaining the salary something which the former Eskom employees are disputing, demanding equal pay.
Eskom early this week Eskom handed over the two power plants to UEGCL after the expiry of their 20-year concession.
At the handover ceremony in Jinja, the Chief Executive Officer of UEGCL, Dr Eng. Harrison Mutikanga, said they will officially start managing and running the plants on Saturday, April 1, 2023.
But this handover is being faced with an impasse between UEGCL and the former Eskom employee who have refused to sign their employment contracts until they agree on their remuneration.
Earthfinds understands that over 100 former Eskom employees are yet to sign the employment contracts.
"We have not rejected the jobs but at the same time, we have not accepted. We are all yet to sign. We have the jobs but the salary rate is low," a former employee of Eskom being absorbed by UEGCL told Earthfinds.
Most of the affected people are the site engineers who are responsible for the running of the plants. If they refuse the offer from UEGCL, then the plants’ production will most likely suffer.
“We will be doing the same work to run the plants, why then should our colleagues in UEGCL get a salary doubling ours? We want an improved salary from what Eskom has been giving us,” another former Eskom said.
Uganda as a country largely depends on the electricity generated by Nalubaale and Kiira Hydro Power Plants. Any inconsistencies in electricity generation plunge the country into darkness.
