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The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa met with the management of Telkom for two days of section 189A consultation under the auspices of the CCMA on the 5th and 6th of February 2020. On the first day we raised the fact that we were not fully represented at the consultation. We needed our shopstewards representing members from different regions to assist with the talks because of the mandate. The problem was caused by Telkom management who deliberately refused to release them so that they could attend the negotiations and we raised this sharply with the commissioner. However, we made it clear that we did not want to delay proceedings because of this issue, and we were willing to proceed. The commissioner agreed that we should be allowed to bring our representatives, and that they will attend future sessions.

We reject false claims made by unions CWU and SACU that we delayed the consultation process in order to push for ‘organizational rights’. This is a lie. The proceedings were delayed by CWU and SACU who insisted that non-recognized unions must be consulted separately, even though the commissioner had resolved this issue on the day of the first consultation. Employees at Telkom are understandably anxious about their future because of looming mass retrenchments. NUMSA, ICTU and Solidarity are working together during this process and we have been very clear from the beginning that our goal is to ensure the best outcome for our members and workers in general at Telkom. This is why since the consultation process began, we have ignored the petty, juvenile behavior displayed by CWU and SACU representatives. However, we cannot allow them to mislead the public about the cause of the delays, hence we felt it was important to set the record straight. We reiterate the need for unions to work together during this process and not to descend into childish squabbling because that will not benefit workers’. That kind of behavior plays into the hands of brutal management by making it easier for them to attack the workers.

On the second day the company presented us with the rationale for the restructuring. It was clear from the presentation that Telkom was unable to justify why it is retrenching three thousand out of nine thousand staff. Telkom management has cited stiff competition as a drawback, but we are not convinced how trimming the workforce will address that issue. Management failed to substantiate the reasons why Telkom is losing so much revenue when it is operating on both fixed line and mobile data whereas its competitors are focusing only on mobile data. Furthermore, the presentation failed to address how Telkom intended to attract new customers and increase revenue. They were unable to say exactly what steps had been taken to mitigate against this. We remain unconvinced that the cutting of so many jobs will improve Telkom’s core issues. A smaller workforce will not make it more competitive, if anything, it will mean it is unable to service the public and its customers, something which it is already struggling to do with the current workforce which it has.

The next meeting will be on the 11th February 2020 to deal with questions and clarities.

Aluta continua!

The struggle continues!

Issued by The National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa