The Communication Workers Union (CWU) has been thwarted in its first attempt to overturn Vodacom's R7.5 billion YeboYethu black economic empowerment (BEE) deal.
The union called the mobile operator into the halls of the Commission for Conciliation Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), earlier this month, complaining that Vodacom's employee share scheme is simply window dressing.
However, the CCMA now says it does not have jurisdiction to deal with the matter and has declined to make a ruling. The union is now preparing its papers to file with the labour court.
In late 2008, Vodacom completed the largest telecoms broad-based empowerment deal in the industry's history. As part of the deal, the company implemented a share scheme, known as YeboYethu, which holds 3.44% of Vodacom.
All Vodacom's South African staff members were given the opportunity to participate through the YeboYethu Employee Participation Trust. However, CWU says promises made then have not been kept.
The union now claims Vodacom did not consult workers properly and also “harassed” staff. According to the union, communication was sent to workers telling them to sign up or lose out.
CWU says it is also not happy that workers are expected to hold onto the shares for seven years, which means they cannot make any money from the shares until then.
At the time the deal was signed, Vodacom said the allocation of shares to employees would be based on percentage of salary, with the lower paid employees getting a higher percentage. However, CWU says this has not been the case and it is concerned that lower paid employees are losing out.
The BEE deal has seen its share of controversy since it was announced and has been dogged by union complaints over how the scheme should work.
Vodacom spokesman Richard Boorman says contrary to the claims made by the union, the CCMA did not refer the case to the labour court and possible legal action has been entirely instigated by the CWU.
“It's worth reiterating that 99.6% of Vodacom's employees agreed with the terms of participation in the YeboYethu employee share ownership plan and that the scheme is free from the employee perspective,” he adds.
The union hopes to have papers filed within two weeks.
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