Johannesburg, 28 May 2007
Contingency measures implemented by Telkom have ensured the strike by members belonging to the Solidarity trade union at its Maritime Radio Services in Cape Town have had minimal impact on operations.
Meshack Dlamini, Telkom's Executive for Employee Relations, said the company's 'hours of work' policy, cited by Solidarity as a reason for the industrial action, was not a new policy and it was in keeping with the country's labour regulations.
"This policy was agreed to between Telkom and the Communication Workers Union in 2002 and subsequently extended to all shift works. The implementation of this policy began in 2003 with a view to put it into effect over a period of time, given the unique challenges faced by various parts of the company," said Dlamini.
As far as the Cape Maritime Radio Services employees were concerned, the implementation was delayed because the company intended to recruit and train staff before implementation.
Dlamini explained that all Telkom's shift workers received a once-off cash incentive for accepting the company's 'hours of work' policy, which included a flexible redefining of the work week. This cash incentive was also accepted by those employees who are currently on strike.
Telkom wants to correct the perception that the shift roster was unilaterally implemented. In fact, when the company was ready to implement its policy at Cape Radio, it started consultations with the affected employees in May 2006. During the consultation period, employees were afforded the opportunity to influence the process.
In October 2006, the company started implementing the new shift roster. Subsequently, Solidarity members declared a dispute claiming unilateral change to their conditions of service.
As an employee-centric company, Telkom has been engaged in a series of discussions and negotiations with a view to averting the threat of an industrial action, but to no avail. This has led to the 35 Solidarity members at the Cape Maritime Radio Services being "locked out".
Telkom would like to assure the public that it has instituted contingency measures so all essential distress watch-keeping services and the broadcasting of navigational, weather and safety information via all our radio channels and systems continue. Operations at Cape Town Radio have hardly been affected.
"We have tried the best we could to address the concerns of the striking employees and remain committed to dialogue as a way forward," Dlamini said.
Telkom Maritime Services - or Cape Town Radio - serve as communications advisors for the South African Search and Rescue Organisation. Its services are used by seafarers to call for help when disaster strikes. In addition, it provides commercial radio communications to fishing vessels and commercial shipping companies, oil rigs and passing international traffic.
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