The Communication Workers Union (CWU) is hopeful it can resolve the protracted strike at MTN by meeting with MTN Group president and CEO Sifiso Dabengwa, who will take over the running of MTN SA for the time being.
MTN SA CEO Ahmad Farroukh will leave the company at the end of the month, after the country's second-largest mobile provider confirmed his resignation on Monday.
Earlier this week, the CWU welcomed Farroukh's resignation, saying it found him to be "arrogant" and "disruptive" during its engagements with him.
CWU president Clyde Mervin says the union has long called for Farroukh's resignation, even before the strike started. "We have engaged with him on a number of occasions and it was clear he did not understand the country's labour laws. He didn't care about the workers at all, so his resignation comes at the right time."
Mervin says the union is far happier to deal with Dabengwa, as it believes it can reach an agreement with MTN's top boss. "We are trying to see whether we can meet with the acting CEO," says Mervin, adding the union feels some of the sticking points have now been removed with Farroukh's resignation.
"We want to resolve the strike in the interests of the public. At this point, MTN is losing, the CWU is losing and the workers are losing," says Mervin.
He points out a potential deal, which seemed imminent a few weeks ago, subsequently fell apart, for "unknown reasons".
The union declared a strike at the company almost two months ago, over pay increases and bonus payouts. It is understood the CWU has since backed down from its initial demands, and is now ready to accept the company's 4% bonus payout in December and another bonus payment of 8.33% in March 2016.
The CWU originally demanded a 30% bonus payout around the time it went out on strike, before revising this to 16%, and now conceding to accept the original 12% offered by MTN.
It is also understood the union has backed down from its salary increase demands, accepting the company's system of performance-based pay hikes.
Meanwhile, an MTN spokesperson says the strike remains unresolved, and he is unaware of the CWU's plans to meet with Dabengwa. However, he says, most workers are back at work.
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