/ 23 January 2001

Telkom faces new protests over job cuts

OWN CORRESPONDENT, Johannesburg | Monday

THE Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) has declared a dispute with Telkom in its latest salvo over what it calls ruthless job cuts and other preparations for the listing of the state-controlled communications giant, and is to embark on protest action.

CWU announced its new step a day after Telkom and trade union representatives met in a resettlement committee meeting to negotiate the procedures surrounding the process of consultation over Telkom’s ongoing efficiency programme, said Afrikaans daily Sake-Beeld.

“The dispute follows a meeting at which Telkom planned to table another round of ruthless job cuts,” the CWU said. “The depreciation in the value of the rand since New Year’s Day is attributed partly to the uncertainty in financial circles whether Telkom will in fact be listed this year, because of the telecommunications policy which still has to be finalised and opposition to the planned listing by trade unions.

Telkom in turn said in a statement it had not yet received any notice of a dispute and that the company would respond to the notification of a dispute once it had been received.

According to CWU representative Sizwe Matshikiza, the dispute relates to an agreement reached on August 7 last year, but which Telkom apparently plans to continue ignoring.

At this meeting, it was agreed that Telkom should be restructured in line with the national framework agreement, but the company now only wants to make use of consultation provided for in the Labour Relations Act, Matshikiza said.

Telkom identified 2 374 posts as redundant last year, after cutting its staff complement by more than 12 000 in the previous financial year.

In a statement, Telkom said its management had emphasised that the management of resources, including human resources, was an operating responsibility that had to be managed in line with the Labour Relations Act.

The CWU said protective labour action in the form of protest marches would take place in the Western Cape, the Northern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal, the Free State and the Eastern Cape between February 12 and February 16. Workers in Gauteng, Mpumalanga, the Northern Province and North-West will have their turn between February 19 and February 23.