CWU-Vodacom strike suspended

Johannesburg, 08 Jun 2007

The strike by the Communications Workers Union (CWU) at mobile operator Vodacom has been suspended yet again, pending successful negotiations.

Last week, the CWU announced that Vodacom employees would go on strike from 6 to 13 June. The strike included a go-slow, demonstrations at all Vodacom premises and half-day strike action. If the situation was not resolved by 13 June, the CWU planned to engage in a full-blown strike.

Industrial action, which started on Wednesday, was suspended yesterday, as Vodacom announced that the parties are engaged in discussions.

"Both parties welcomed the discussions and the successful outcome thereof, and are certain the ongoing negotiations will remain positive, with a mutually acceptable and beneficial outcome," the company says in a statement.

The CWU's ongoing threat to strike, previously averted through a labour court interdict, was sparked by a dispute in which the union accused Vodacom of refusing to recognise it as a representative labour organisation within the company. CWU also said Vodacom was denying it its "organisational rights".

In response, Vodacom said the CWU has less than 10% representation at the company, short of the agreed threshold of 30%, which would qualify it to enter into a collective bargaining agreement.

The Department of Communications previously intervened in the dispute and engaged the services of Gobodo Forensic and Investigative Accounting to establish the CWU membership base at Vodacom.

It is not clear yet what the results of this investigation are, and whether they have played a role in facilitating the new talks that averted the strike.

The CWU was unable to respond to a media enquiry at the time of publication.