Mobile operator MTN has accused the Communication Workers Union (CWU) of being irresponsible, reckless and unprofessional, following the dismissal of more than 300 contract workers for illegally joining the strike against the company.
MTN SA human resources officer Themba Nyathi slammed the union for using the employees - mostly contact centre and retail staff - to support the protracted industrial action, when no direct employer-employee relationship existed between them and MTN.
According to Nyathi, the outsourced employees did not fall under the strike certificate issued by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) and so were not authorised to embark on industrial action.
"We found that some of these workers have not been at work for the past three weeks, so we contacted the outsourcing service providers. It turns out that none of these employees served any type of notice on their employers, so they were dismissed," says Nyathi.
"This has nothing to do with MTN, as these are not MTN employees. However, we don't understand what the union is doing. These workers are young, black professionals, who are just trying to break into the job market. Yet, the CWU just enticed them into doing illegal things."
The CWU embarked on strike action three weeks ago, after talks between the union and MTN stalled over the issues of annual pay hikes and bonus payouts. The union is demanding a 12% bonus pay and a 10% salary hike, but the operator says it will not budge from its final proposal. MTN is offering a 4% bonus payout in December 2015 and a second payment of 8.33% in March 2016.
The company last week called for independent arbitration to break the stalemate, but this was rejected by the CWU, as it would mean the union would have to cease its strike action.
Hot air
Nyathi believes the union is now in a tough spot, as it has overplayed its hand. "I think the CWU does want to resolve the situation, but they disregarded our offer and promised their members heaven and earth.
"But we are not going to budge; the union can continue to strike all they want," he says, adding the strike has all but petered out, with most employees having returned to work.
Nyathi also dismissed the CWU's threats to launch a secondary strike as nothing but "hot air".
Meanwhile, CWU president Clyde Mervin says the union is seeking legal advice on the termination of the 300 contract workers. "These are our members and the CWU will defend them."
He disputes MTN's argument that the original CCMA strike certificate does not cover the contract employees and says the union will most likely take the matter to the Labour Court, if it comes to that.
In terms of the secondary strike, Mervin says notice has already been served on Telkom and Sentech for CWU members from those companies to join the industrial action against MTN. "We will be meeting with those workers this week, so we will have more details on Friday about how many members will be joining the sympathy strike."
Mervin adds the union is consulting its legal representatives to see if workers from other companies can join the secondary industrial action. More details would be revealed on Friday, he says.
Earlier this week, Mervin stated the union is confident some 10 000 additional CWU members would be mobilised to join the sympathy strike.
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