Telkom wage negotiations resume

By Damaria Senne for Telkom
Johannesburg, 03 Apr 2006

Telkom met with trade union representatives from the Communications Workers Union (CWU) and Solidarity on Saturday to resume wage negotiations.

The objective of the meeting was to resolve areas of dispute related to the way Telkom manages its profit-sharing scheme and other wage-related issues.

According to the two unions, the negotiating parties were unable to reach an agreement. However, CWU presented a counter-offer to Telkom, they say.

Forget the cost

Mafanafuthi Sithebe, CWU head of communications, says Telkom estimates the union`s counter-offer would add R1.9 billion to its annual salary bill.

"They dwelt on the cost of implementing our wage plan as if it`s the fault of the workers that the disparity exists in the first place," he says.

Sithebe blames Telkom senior management for the problems in the wage negotiations but absolves CEO Papi Molotsane, who he says seems committed to the negotiation process.

"He has given the senior executives a mandate and instead of finding ways to address the issue, they talk about the high cost," he says.

Dirk Hermann, Solidarity deputy general secretary, says Telkom should be able to afford to accept the counter-offer.

"If you look at the profits they made last year, you can see they can afford to meet our demands."

Hermann says Telkom`s proposal to the unions is that the profit-sharing scheme is part of a three-year agreement. However, the unions would like the contract to last only one year, he says.

In that year, a review of local and international best practice on profit-sharing would take place, he says.

"The Telkom gain-sharing scheme should be realigned with best practices in SA and the rest of world at the end of the one-year agreement," Hermann says.

Response expected

The two unions expect to receive Telkom`s official response to the counter-offer today. Sithebe says CWU will continue with its strike action plans, which include workers not doing any over-time. CWU will also continue with its plans to mobilise civil society organisations to support its cause.

The CWU did not apply for an interdict as it planned to last week. There was no need to do so as there were plans to resume negotiations, Sithebe says.

Telkom was unable to respond at the time of publication.