/ 30 May 2011

Solidarity says room for ‘solid’ salary hike at Telkom

Solidarity insisted on Monday that Telkom had enough room for a “solid” salary hike of up to 12%.

Marius Croucamp, spokesperson for the trade union, said there was sufficient room for a solid increase in Telkom’s salary budget, as the telecommunications group let more than 1 650 permanent employees go by awarding them voluntary severance packages.

“However, it appears that more voluntary severance packages will be offered, as Telkom wants to include a formal mechanism for voluntary severance packages in this year’s wage agreement,” Croucamp said.

Telkom is offering a wage increase of 4.5%, while Solidarity is demanding an increase of 12%.

Issues concerning standby allowances, telephone allowances, leave and payouts for long service periods will also be discussed during the negotiations.

The next round of wage negotiations at Telkom will take place on June 8.

At the first round of wage negotiations that took place at Telkom last Thursday, Solidarity demanded that, apart from a general wage increase for two years, a two-year moratorium on retrenchments be implemented retroactively from April 1 this year. — I-Net Bridge