Vodacom strike gets nasty

Johannesburg, 19 Jul 2007

Striking Communication Workers Union (CWU) members have accused Vodacom of employing "a professional American union basher to test how imperial bashing can be implemented in SA".

This is the latest accusation levelled against SA's largest mobile operator during the two-and-a-half-week strike, stemming from the union's dissatisfaction at not being recognised by the company as a representative labour organisation.

This is not the first time the union has accused Vodacom of using co-owner Vodafone (in fact, a UK company) to allegedly suppress union activity in the company. According to CWU spokesman Mfanafuthi Sithebe, Vodacom workers "are being subjected to horrendous conditions against civil liberties".

The CWU is involved in an ongoing protest against its non-recognition as a representative body within Vodacom. This is the third strike it has embarked upon in the last six months.

The Department of Communications was mandated in April to investigate whether the union had reached the 30% threshold required for recognition, as Vodacom maintains it represents only 9.8% of its employees.

The investigation has not yet been completed, but Sithebe says Vodacom "manipulates numbers so that a union can never reach a threshold of representation".

Sporadic intimidation

The company recently approached the courts to obtain an interdict against the strike on the basis of possible violence.

Vodacom spokesperson Dot Field says there has been "sporadic intimidation of vehicles trying to enter Vodaworld", although the union has challenged the employer to substantiate its claims.

"When used constructively, unions can be a very positive mechanism to ensure people are treated fairly and with respect," says Field. She rejects the allegations of "union bashing" Americans, saying "there is no truth whatsoever to it".

Vodacom has maintained throughout the strike, which started on 2 July, that less than 3% of its workforce has been on strike and that operations have, therefore, not been affected. However, CWU asserts this is "the largest strike involving mobile communications workers in the history of Africa" and "replacement workers have begun to pour into Vodacom".

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) has backed the CWU strike, saying "there can be no justification for the employer's stubborn refusal to give CWU full recognition".

Cosatu adds: "Vodacom is a big, highly-profitable company; it has no excuse for not meeting reasonable demands from its workers."