Mobile operator MTN has laid criminal charges against a group of striking Communication Workers Union (CWU) members, who on Friday allegedly attacked one of the company's retail outlets, assaulting and intimidating staff in the process.
However, the CWU has strongly denied any violence associated with the strike "at the picket line", saying it cannot be held responsible for the actions of its members that do not form part of the official union protest.
The CWU and MTN have been at loggerheads for more than a month, after talks between the two deadlocked over salary increases and bonus payments. The CWU embarked on strike action, which has been marred by incidents of violence, prompting MTN to obtain a court interdict to prevent striking workers from coming within 100m of any of its premises.
This morning, CWU secretary general Aubrey Tshabalala confirmed the union and MTN have "by and large" agreed on the sticking points related to the pay increases and bonus payouts, saying the union is now waiting for MTN's response to its latest settlement proposal.
Tshabalala also says the CWU will investigate the MTN store attack if a complaint is lodged about its members.
According to an MTN spokesperson, the perpetrators of the MTN store attack - in which staff members were forced to flee after being assaulted and threatened with being set alight - identified themselves as CWU union members.
The spokesperson says security camera footage captured the incident and has been handed over to police investigators to identify the attackers.
In terms of the strike, the company official says most employees are back at work, and MTN is studying the CWU's latest settlement proposal, which is essentially an acceptance of the deal put forward by the operator at the start of the strike.
However, he says, the attack on Friday has clouded any chance of reaching an amicable agreement with the CWU. "There is no agreement in sight and there is no need for MTN to sign anything, as workers are back at work anyway."
Misleading statements
Meanwhile, the Solidarity trade union has lashed out at Telkom CEO Sipho Maseko's "misleading statements in the media". Earlier this month, the CWU, the South African Communications Union and Solidarity declared a dispute with Telkom over its restructuring process.
Telkom intends to retrench 4 400 employees through voluntary severance packages and voluntary early retirement packages, and also transfer an additional 3 400 employees to external outsourced providers or via enterprise development. As talks have deadlocked, Telkom is now moving to a forced retrenchment process.
Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp says Maseko accused Solidarity of "selectively using facts", while the company itself is making contradictory statements about its use of race in its current retrenchment process.
Croucamp says Maseko was quoted in the media confirming employment equity is one of the selection criteria used in its retrenchment process. "Yet, he also said that the company was not considering the use of race as a selection criterion at all."
He says Maseko is playing with words, as affirmative action is a race-based policy. "Solidarity challenges Maseko to remove selection criteria concerning race from its retrenchment notice. If race was really not a factor in the process, then Telkom should not have a problem to remove the criterion.
"We are tired of Telkom continuously spreading misconceptions about Solidarity's statements in the media, while the company's workers and our members are distressed and uncertain about their future," Croucamp added.
Telkom did not comment at the time of publication.
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