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Court orders Telkom to stop retrenchments

Martin Czernowalow
By Martin Czernowalow, Contributor.
Johannesburg, 08 Jul 2015
The Labour Court has ordered Telkom to stop its restructuring and retrenchment processes.
The Labour Court has ordered Telkom to stop its restructuring and retrenchment processes.

The Labour Court in Johannesburg this morning ordered Telkom to halt its restructuring retrenchments and withdraw the Section 189 notices it issued to about 4 000 workers.

The ruling, handed down by judge David Gush, also effectively interdicts the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration from continuing with consultations around the retrenchments and forces Telkom back to the negotiating table.

"This means we go back to the table and exhaust all the internal processes first," says Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp, who concedes this does not mean retrenchments won't be back on the table once the process has been completed.

"But it's all about a fair process. Telkom did not give us enough information to explore all the options and alternatives."

Solidarity, with backing from the Communication Workers Union and South African Communication Union, last week approached the court with an urgent application for an interdict against Telkom's planned restructuring and retrenchments. This came after the unions claimed Telkom had ignored an agreement on restructuring processes it had concluded with trade unions in 2008.

"In terms of this agreement, Telkom has to meet with trade unions and reach a settlement before the company may embark on a restructuring process. Although the unions had declared a dispute with Telkom on 19 June over the planned retrenchments, Telkom carried on to issue a section 189 retrenchment notice to trade unions on 22 June," says Solidarity.

Solidarity deputy general secretary Johan Kruger says the court order signals a clear message against unfair restructuring processes. "This judgment is a victory for Telkom workers who are regularly being subjected to restructuring processes.

"Solidarity will do everything in its power to ensure Telkom abides by the court order and follows the correct procedures," Kruger says.

Croucamp says the union will now attempt to settle the existing dispute with Telkom, before exploring alternatives to retrenchments. "Should they not wish to join the party, we might have to go to arbitration over this dispute. But for now, everything has stopped."

In terms of Telkom's current restructuring process, as many as 4 400 of its employees could ultimately be retrenched, while a further 3 200 could be redeployed to other companies.

Telkom did not comment by the time of publication.

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