The three trade unions deadlocked in a wage dispute with Telkom have been invited to a meeting with the telecommunications company on Thursday in the hopes of avoiding a strike, the South African Communications Union (Sacu) said on Tuesday.
”Yesterday [Monday] the company said it would meet all the unions on Thursday to discuss the dispute,” said Sacu spokesperson Jannie Volschenk.
A Telkom spokesperson could not be reached to confirm the development, but Volschenk said that it would go into the meeting hoping to secure its initial request of an 11% increase, but would settle for anything equal to CPIX or above.
CPIX — inflation minus mortgage costs — is currently at 9,4%.
If that fails they would approach the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration to intervene in the dispute.
Solidarity said that it and the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) were hoping to secure a 14% increase backdated to August 2007.
A spokesperson for the CWU was not available for comment.
Telkom has reportedly upped its offer to 7,7%. — Sapa