Telkom says it will move ahead with transferring staff from its call centre, supply chain and IT environments to new employers next Tuesday.
This comes after its three main unions failed to reach consensus on an alternative proposal that Telkom offer affected staff voluntary retrenchment and early retirement. Just less than 1 300 employees are affected by the process.
Telkom has identified WNS as its preferred partner to handle its line call centre operations, while Barloworld Logistics will undertake the management of 25 Telkom warehouses in the supply chain area of the business.
In addition, Telkom's IT legacy systems will be managed by ASAJE, and Bidvest has been identified to take over internal printing services, while Ingram Micro will take over the supply chain in the retail area of the business.
However, Telkom's latest move, which forms part of a multi-year turnaround initiative a year in the running, has drawn the ire of unions. Telkom is also set to close 20 Telkom Direct stores, which have been underperforming, leading to about 100 job losses. Discussions on these closures continue today.
Despite the unions' anger, Solidarity, the South African Communications Union and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) failed to agree that Telkom should rather offer voluntary packages, instead of retrenching staff.
Telkom had agreed to move the transfer implementation date to the end of April, and offer voluntary packages, but only if all unions agreed on this process. CWU withheld its consent.
The telco - the lead agency for government's broadband project - also reports that persistent illegal industrial action, in the form of go-slows, at Telkom's call centres escalated this weekend, with incidents of staff intimidation and walk-outs reported.
Spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan says its service levels have been under severe pressure "for a number of weeks" and apologised to customers. She notes Telkom has added more staff into its already outsourced call centres, and increased resources in other channels, such as social media.
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