The only union not to sign Telkom's three-year wage offer, Solidarity, says it is pondering its options and is set to tackle Telkom over implementation issues.
Yesterday, Telkom's second-largest union, the South African Communications Union (SACU), signed a three-year wage deal. This brought to an end several months of wage talks and gives Telkom the required majority to implement the agreement for all bargaining unit employees.
SACU's signature follows the agreement reached with the Communication Workers Union (CWU) towards the end of last month.
However, Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp says its rights are reserved and, as it did not agree to the offer as its members did not give it a mandate to sign, it still has full remedies in terms of the Labour Relations Act.
Croucamp says the other two unions have "signed their rights away". Solidarity is deciding on a way forward, he adds.
There are already problems with implementation, says Croucamp. Solidarity remains in dispute with Telkom and there will be issues with the deal later on as more staff move up the salary scale and realise they will not get increases, he explains.
Telkom's three-year deal aims to remove historical salary disparities and is staggered based on the average pay for a specific job function. Under the deal, the general salary increase will be based on 6% of the market's 50th percentile as per employee functional area.
Those employees below the 50th percentile of the market will receive an additional amount added to their total package, while all employees below the 75th percentile of the market will receive an increase on their total package.
However, staff above the 75th percentile of the market on 31 March 2013 will receive a monthly pensionable once-off amount, but no increase in their total package. Croucamp has explained that, in year one, 60% of staff will get a real increase, which drops to 40% and then 30% in the final year.
The deal will see Telkom's total wage bill increasing 6.8% a year. CEO Sipho Maseko said yesterday the group hopes to cover the increase in its wage bill through other cost-cutting measures and increased productivity. He could not indicate whether retrenchments would take place in the future. "Anyone who can predict the future takes a big chance."
Actions that are open to the union include raising disputes or taking on individual cases, says Croucamp. He adds that industrial action is still a possibility, but will not happen at the moment.
Solidarity will approach Telkom in the next few weeks to discuss the issue and aims to attack weaknesses in the implementation of the deal, says Croucamp. There is an "uptick" in staff from Telkom signing up with the union, he notes.
Telkom said in a statement that it has received written confirmation from Solidarity to proceed with the implementation of the agreement.
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