Union vows to fight Telkom ‘retrenchments’

The Communication Workers Union says proposed voluntary severance and early retirement packages amount to retrenchment.

Added by Editor on 13 March 2013.
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The Communication Workers Union (CWU) on Wednesday vowed to fight the proposed offer of voluntary packages to Telkom workers.

“Even if Telkom can use a different concept or wording like voluntary severance packages or early retirement, it means retrenchment, which as CWU we will find it difficult to agree with the company’s intention,” CWU president Cecil Mokgantsho said.

“As CWU we will never allow any form of retrenchment of our members. Even if the company can threaten or bully our members, we will fight the company until the last drop of our blood.”

On Monday, Telkom announced it would offer voluntary severance and early retirement packages to thousands of its employees. The move was “aimed at enabling the company to achieve its business objectives, [and] secure its sustainability and commercial viability by balancing its workforce in line with its strategic imperatives”.

Telkom has a workforce of around 21 000 employees.

It said the move followed consultation with all parties, including recognised unions — CWU, the SA Communication Union, and Solidarity.

The decision to apply for a package was at the sole discretion of every employee, Telkom said. After the packages window period closed, Telkom might embark on retrenchments if the process had not achieved the desired result.

“Future retrenchment processes and severance packages will be done in accordance with the Labour Relations Act,” Telkom said.

Despite Telkom’s statement saying unions had been consulted, Mokgantsho claimed the decision to offer severance packages had been taken without consulting the CWU.

Mokgantsho claimed the company was “forcing” workers to take voluntary packages and early retirement. Telkom rejected this, saying the process was voluntary.  — Sapa

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  • Davebee

    Well it would seem that at least one of the unions at Telkom knows the score on being retrenched from Telkom and that score is a pretty dim future of struggling to find employment in a society that has no place for those staffers who have no other skills to sell than those that they used at Telkom most of their working lives.

    I wish you and your colleagues well in your quest Cecil but I fear it will be tilting at windmills my friend. Telkom is in big, big trouble as they are no longer a big telecomms player (see wireless & fibre technology) and human beings are a drag on profits in any firm so the big HR chopper is coming for you before Christmas sad to say.

    My advice? Use what limited time you have to get some form of ready-to-go skills that you can use to prop up that VERP package and get every scrap of info from your managers regarding this head count reduction that they and HR can offer you all.

    By the way, to go on strike will merely strengthen their case against you as Telkom will go on with or without your strike.

    Good luck…you will need lots of it.,

  • Jimmy

    There is no point in saying that their Telkom skills have no value elsewhere. The unions supported Telkom when it came to LLU. They should have their cake and eat it.

    If we had full LLU, there would be other operators who would have been able to hire these Telkom employees.

  • Greg Mahlknecht

    But LLU didn’t happen, so currently the technicians skills aren’t applicable anywhere? Non-techie ex-Telkom employees are fine for finding employment, it’s just the ones whose only skills are maintaining the copper local loop.

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