Telkom presented an amended offer on Wednesday to trade unions embroiled in a pay dispute with the company, trade union Solidarity said.
”Telkom’s amended offer is a step in the right direction, but the scheme can be improved even further,” Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann said in a statement.
The ”good thing” about Telkom’s offer is that the company’s lowest-paid employee would get R10 000 annually instead of R3 072 from Telkom’s profit gains, Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans said.
”It’s quite a dramatic increase for the lowest-level employee. It’s excellent,” he said.
Telkom’s new offer came after the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU) and Solidarity gave Telkom a 4pm ultimatum to withdraw a plan to give improved profit-sharing only to workers who did not participate in this week’s two-day strike.
”If Telkom fails to heed this notice, court documents will be served on Telkom at 4pm and the trade unions will go to court tomorrow [Thursday] to ask for an urgent interdict against the company,” Hermann said earlier on Wednesday.
”Telkom’s plans are illegal and we have taken legal advice that indicates that our application for an interdict against the company is likely to be successful. Telkom not only received poor legal advice, but also bad labour-relations advice. The company’s actions are eroding its employee relations even further.
”At the conclusion of the strike, Telkom will not only have to implement a new profit-share model, but it will also face the challenge of regaining the trust of its workers,” Kleynhans said.
Telkom made its revised offer on profit-sharing and wages on Friday, on condition that workers not strike this week.
It was withdrawn when their industrial action continued on Monday and Tuesday.
Solidarity had claimed it would use Monday’s action to obtain a mandate from its members on the revised offer. The CWU rejected it outright. It has since asked that it be put back on the table.
A third union representing 11 000 Telkom workers, the South African Communications Union, has already accepted an offer by the company.
The striking Telkom workers returned to their posts on Wednesday, when they were expected to conduct a go-slow and not work overtime. The company could not confirm whether this had indeed happened.
The unions have demanded R50 000 a year per worker from the company’s profits. They have also called for an 8,5% salary increase for general workers and a 7,5% increase for supervisory and specialist workers. Telkom is offering 6,5%.
Telkom spokesperson Lulu Letlape could not be reached for comment. — Sapa