Unions representing about 70% of Telkom's staff have agreed to a wage deal, bringing to an end about five months of negotiations.
At the beginning of the month, Telkom made a last-minute offer in a bid to avert a threatened strike that would have had dire consequences for much of SA's economy.
All three of the unions - Solidarity, the Communication Workers Union, and the South African Communications Union (SACU) - are set to sign the deal, which will be backdated to April. Combined, the federations represent about 15 000 Telkom employees.
Telkom's latest proposal is a 7% across-the-board increase for this year and a 6.5% increase for next year. The company has also offered to increase employees' profit sharing to 18%, which is based on individual and company performance.
The three unions had threatened to down tools if Telkom did not offer 7.5% for higher paid workers and 8% for the lowest paid staff. Telkom's initial offer was 4.5%, which was later increased to 5%, but was linked to job security.
Best interests
Telkom subsequently revised its offer to a 5% increase, for the period between April and September this year, and an additional percentage point increase for the period October 2011 to March 2012, as well as an increase of inflation plus one percentage point for next year. This was rejected by unions.
However, unions have now agreed to Telkom's latest offer, bringing to an end protracted talks. SACU president Michael Hare says all three unions will sign the substantive agreement with the fixed-line operator.
Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp says the wage agreement came just in time before the relationship between the parties turned sour.
“The agreement is also in the interest of the whole of SA,” Croucamp says. “A strike in the industry could have been catastrophic, since even the service delivery of ATMs is dependent on Telkom.”
Other issues such as job security will be negotiated through a restructuring forum, while a task team will be set up to deal with medical aid and salary disparities.
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