Trade union Solidarity on Wednesday claimed that more than 30Â 000 activists and trade union members worldwide will be mustered this week against dual-listed telecommunication giant Telkom’s planned retrenchments.
The London-based website Labour Start contains an exposition of the planned retrenchment of 4Â 181 Telkom workers during the next three years.
Labour Start invites visitors to the website to send a protest note to Telkom’s chief executive, Sizwe Nxasana.
Solidarity said the Labour Start website has already recorded 961 e-mails protesting against the Telkom retrenchments. Labour Start has asked the 18Â 000 subscribers to its website to mobilise their forces against Telkom.
Locally, Solidarity has used it weekly electronic newsletter Soldeer to appeal to 7Â 000 trade union members to do the same.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions and its subsidiary, the Communication Workers Union (CWU), will also mobilise thousands of members by means of e-mail. In addition, links to the Labour Start campaign are to be provided on hundreds of trade-union websites across the world.
“Mobilisation of public support has now assumed an international aspect. Within a week the Telkom retrenchments will be on the international agenda,” Solidarity spokesperson Dirk Hermann said.
Hermann added that Labour Start has a proven track record in successfully running campaigns of this nature.
“When the trade unions Solidarity, CWU and the South African Communications Union publish the findings of their commission of inquiry into the Telkom retrenchments on September 7, it will attract international interest,” he stated.
The trade unions and Telkom will meet again on September 4 to discuss the planned retrenchments.
The meeting will once again be facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. — I-Net Bridge
On the net:
Labour Start
Soldeer