Telkom moves to stop strike

In what appears to be a last-ditch effort to avoid the "largest strike action ever" against Telkom, the South African fixed-line operator summoned trade unions to a meeting this afternoon, and indicated it may be prepared to put forward a revised offer.

The move follows yesterday`s announcement that Solidarity and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) members will embark on a mass strike on Monday against Telkom`s proposed profit-sharing scheme. The two unions represent about 14 000 Telkom employees countrywide.

Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann says workers are unhappy about the way in which profit-sharing is handled at Telkom, after four months of negotiations failed to yield an agreement.

He claims that Telkom`s top management gets millions under the scheme, while ordinary workers have to be satisfied with as little as R2 651, based on a sliding-scale system related to employee seniority.

The unions are also protesting the fact that the Telkom intends to lock in the profit-sharing scheme as part of a newly-negotiated three-year wage agreement, meaning it would take another three years before the terms of this agreement can be renegotiated.

Following the unions` announcement yesterday, Telkom indicated it is willing to reopen talks with the labour organisations.

In a statement released by the company, Telkom says that "in a sincere effort to break the current impasse, management has re-looked at its mandate and has a scheduled meeting" with the trade unions.

"The revised mandate will be the subject of this meeting."

However, Hermann says he is not "too optimistic" about the outcome of the talks, adding that mass action will still go ahead on Monday, regardless of the outcome.

"The focus of Monday`s action will be Pretoria. Some 5 000 workers will gather for a mass meeting and will march to Telkom`s head office to hand over a memorandum to management. We will inform our members of any new offers put forward by Telkom at the mass meeting," he says.

The rest of the 14 000 unionised employees are also expected to participate in stay-away action across the country on Monday.

CWU head of communications Mfanafuthi Sithebe also indicates that the union intends to strike next week, regardless of the outcome of today`s meeting.

"We will engage with Telkom, but our members have given us a mandate to strike, so we will start mass action on Monday."

Sithebe says he is unwilling to pre-empt the outcome of the talks, but says the union remains "optimistic".

Meanwhile, Lulu Letlape, Telkom group executive for corporate communications, downplayed the potential impact of the strike.

"Noting that not all of Telkom employees will engage in the planned industrial action, as the South African Communications Union has already accepted management`s offer and that a large number of Telkom staff are non-unionised, our initial strike impact surveys indicate that Telkom customers will not be severely affected by any industrial action that may ensue," she says.

Letlape also notes that Telkom remains committed to resolving the matter through negotiations.

"As an organisation, Telkom has consistently reached out to improve the employment conditions of our employees. These include the granting of medical aid, as well as housing subsidies to all employees - including those who do not own their own homes."

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