Unions will meet with Telkom this week, to provide the company with demands relating to its voluntary retrenchment plans.
Telkom on Friday announced it will begin a voluntary severance programme from next week, which would apply to the company's management team. The packages also include voluntary retirement.
The company's acting chief of human resources, JC Smit, says the move is aimed at helping Telkom improve its ability to compete in an increasingly competitive market. According to Telkom, these packages are not mandatory, and the decision to apply for severance is completely at the employees' discretion.
However, trade union Solidarity does not believe these packages will end up being voluntary, and is concerned that if managers don't take up the offer, they will be forced into retrenchment later this year.
Solidarity's head of the ICT industry, Marius Croucamp, says the company surprised the unions with the announcement. “We were about to meet with them on Friday, when they released the statement on the matter,” he explains.
He says, while there were rumours that Telkom planned to implement the packages, none of the unions had been consulted on the matter. “We also don't believe that these packages will be voluntary, because Telkom could not guarantee that there would not be forced retrenchments over the next 24 months.”
The unions now plan to meet again with Telkom to stipulate their demands, which includes a proper consultation process. “Telkom has to follow the law on consultation, and they have not done that.”
The union also hopes to force Telkom to explain the reasons for the severance. “We have not been given a real indication of the reasons for this action. They have given us some excuse about reporting levels, but we want an answer that makes sense,” notes Croucamp.
Solidarity says if the company does not meet the demands, it will forward the case to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to intervene on behalf of the staff.
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