Communication Workers Union

CWU and other trade unions (Solidarity and SACU) met with TELKOM on 27 MAY 2009.

This was the fourth meeting of a negotiation process branded as number crunching by labour. Unions reduced their demand from a 16% increase on basic salary to 13%, addressing of income differentials, reduced its demand for an increase in housing subsidy to R 1750.00  per month, a 2/3 medical aid subsidy as well as an increase in team award (gainsharing) to between 9%- 16% of the total package. TELKOM offered an increase of 7,5%. This is  below the current CPI of 8, 5% and linked to a two year agreement opposed to the unions’ demand of a one year agreement.

“The reality is that TELKOM did not improve on its offer from the very first meeting. They stood steadfast at their budgeted amount of 7, 5% increase on their current wage bill. Income differentials were created by the company’s unilateral implementation of an exercise of compression of grades in 2000. This created an unacceptable situation whereby a technician doing the same job as his colleague is earning R 7980.00 less per month. A supervisor earns R 12220.00 per month less than his colleague. What compounds this situation is that it is discriminatory, because more than 95% of all top earners in the bargaining unit are white and almost 99% of the lowest earners are black. The Department of Labour’s Employment Conditions Commission should act against this discriminatory practice” – Richard Poulton, leader of the CWU negotiating team.

We are worried that a strike by TELKOM workers will negatively impact on the Confederations Cup, if an amicable solution is not reached soon. TELKOM must show leadership on this matter and give workers a salary increase that is considerate of not only CPI, but the overall cost of living including the increases in the price of houses, medical aid, transport, rates and taxes, electricity, etc. CWU members working in TELKOM, SABC and Sentech will be involved in the provision of ICT services such as broadcasting to the Confederations Cup. As matters stand disputes in these companies set to resolved in the streets and not in the boardrooms.

TELKOM is one the most unequal companies in South Africa in terms of income. The exco and the rest of management absorbed a significant portion of the R 7, 3 bn that was spent on salaries and wages during the previous financial year. They want the workers to suffer so that huge bonuses can once again be paid to the executive. They continue to give themselves these   immoral bonuses at the expense of workers. Labour negotiators are not very optimistic on reaching consensus at the next meeting, because no headway was made since the start of the process, as the company is pleading poverty. “We have indicated that the selling of Vodacom should not be used as a reason for not being able to give a decent increase, because we were consistently warning them about the danger of selling such an important asset.”

Unions are busy with report back meetings, but a strike looks inevitable.