Johannesburg - The Labour Court has refused two Eskom unions leave to appeal against the power utility's plan to unilaterally introduce a 7% pay rise.
The National Union of Mineworkers (Num) described the ruling on Friday as a minor setback.
"We are confident that at the end of the day, the war will be won by us," spokesman Job Matsepe said.
Num and the National Union of Metalworkers of SA (Numsa) jointly applied for leave to appeal against a judgment handed down on Monday.
Matsepe said the union would brief its members at Eskom and map out their "final push".
Num, Numsa and Solidarity had wanted a 13% increase.
Eskom's 7% increase, backdated from July, would take effect in September and affect about 22,000 workers in the bargaining unit.
Comment from the other two unions could not be immediately obtained.