Vodacom workers strike

By Damaria Senne, ITWeb senior journalist

Johannesburg, 12 Mar 2007

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) embarked on nationwide strike action against Vodacom this morning, as it continues to battle for recognition from the mobile operator.

This morning, union members picketed outside a number of Vodacom facilities in Midrand, Port Elizabeth and Durban, with over 250 employees picketing at Vodacom's Midrand premises, says CWU spokesman Mfanafuthi Sithebe. Reports are still coming in as to how well employees supported the strike, he adds.

The strike action was sparked by a dispute between the CWU and Vodacom, in which the union accused the mobile provider of refusing to recognise it as a representative labour organisation within the company and of denying it its "organisational rights".

The company's refusal to enter into negotiations with the workers resulted in the strike, Sithebe says.

However, Vodacom disputes the notion that it refuses to recognise CWU as a union. Vodacom executive director of human resources Lungi Ndlovu says the CWU agreed in a mutual co-operation agreement with Vodacom, at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in 1999, on a representative rate of around 30%.

The CWU has representation of less than 10% at Vodacom and not the agreed threshold of 30%, which would qualify it to enter into a collective agreement, the company says in a media statement.

Urgent interdict

Vodacom has applied for an interdict from the Braamfontein Labour Court to stop the strike action, Sithebe says.

The hearing was to begin at 10am and it will be up to the court to make a decision regarding further strike action, he says. However, Sithebe points out the CCMA approved the CWU's strike action.

Mobilising support

Sithebe adds the CWU is mobilising support from "friends and supporters" of the striking Vodacom workers, Telkom employees, as well as the international community.

Suporters are urged to engage in a consumer strike today and tomorrow by switching off their Vodacom numbers between 1pm and 1.10pm on both days, he says.

Sithebe says Telkom employees, who are also members of the CWU, are considering applying for a secondary strike. These members have infromed the union they are ready to support the Vodacom strike, he adds. "Together, the industrial action actions could cripple telecommunications throughout the country."

The Union Network International, a global union for skills and services, representing 900 unions, has issued a statement in support of the CWU's strike action.

Vodacom would not directly comment on the strike this morning.