It’s back to the negotiating table for Eskom and three trade unions, with wage negotiations set to resume on Friday.

The power utility has upped its wage increase offer from zero percent to 6.2 percent for 2018.

It’s also offering 6 percent for the next two years.

Initially, Eskom said it could not afford any wage increases for this year.

This triggered nationwide protest action which resulted in load-shedding in some areas.

At the same time, the National Union of Mineworkers, Numsa and Solidarity have also revised their wage increase demands from 15 percent to 9 percent.

Unions are expected to give feedback from their members to the parastatal following consultations on the new offer.

NUM said workers will not hesitate to down tools if they don’t get what they want.

The power utility says it remains optimistic that an agreement will be reached.