Union mulls Vodacom strike action

By Leon Engelbrecht, ITWeb senior writer

Johannesburg, 29 May 2007

Communications Workers Union (CWU) members employed at Vodacom will this afternoon decide whether to continue a strike interdicted in March.

The union went on strike at the cellphone provider on 12 March, but was interdicted in the Labour Court the same day.

The Labour Court yesterday discharged the interdict, leaving communications workers free to resume the strike.

The nationwide three-day strike, which was to last until 14 March, was sparked by Vodacom's alleged refusal to recognise the CWU as a representative labour organisation within the company.

Vodacom previously said it would recognise the CWU in the workplace if it represented at least 30% of employees. The CWU says it meets this threshold, but Vodacom states the CWU represents less than 10% of staff.

CWU spokesman Mfanafuthi Sithebe says this afternoon's consultations will help determine the next step for workers.

"We will hold the meeting at 5pm because it is difficult to meet during working hours," he says, adding that the company harasses CWU members who try to exercise their labour rights. "Their behaviour undermines the highest law of the land; we can't allow this in the second decade of democracy."

Sithebe says the union is still willing to talk. "We are open to discussions with Vodacom as long as that will yield fruitful outcomes and is not just a play for time."

In reaction, Vodacom spokesperson Dot Field said: "We abide by the decision of the court."

Meanwhile, the outcome of a Department of Communications forensic audit, to assess the exact number of CWU workers at Vodacom, could not be immediately confirmed. The department last month offered itself as an honest broker to resolve the impasse