In what is being touted as the biggest showdown between South African telecommunications company Telkom and trade unions, 14 000 unionised workers are set to embark on strike action next week, over the fixed-line monopoly`s profit-sharing scheme.
Solidarity and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) announced today at a joint media conference in Johannesburg that the campaign is intended to put pressure on Telkom and gain support for the unions` demands.
The campaign, says Solidarity deputy general secretary Dirk Hermann, will mark the first time the two trade unions will be involved in joint action since forming a coalition in January. Together, the labour organisations represent more than 50% of Telkom`s 28 000 staff.
"Our members are extremely unhappy about the way in which profit-sharing is handled at Telkom. The company`s top management gets millions, while ordinary workers have to be satisfied with as little as R2 651 (per month). This is unacceptable to us and to our members, which is why we plan forceful action against Telkom," Hermann explains.
The dispute also centres on the fact that the company intends to include the profit-sharing scheme as part of a newly-negotiated three-year wage agreement.
Aggressive action
"If we accepted this proposal, it would mean that we would have to wait three years before being able to renegotiate the profit-sharing model. That is why we decided to take aggressive action now," Hermann notes. He adds that the unions have accepted Telkom`s proposed 6.25% wage increase.
However, workers have rejected the current "sliding scale" profit-sharing model, where a larger percentage is given to workers who hold higher positions.
"Telkom`s CEO gets 46 times as much as an ordinary worker (in terms of salary), but his profit share is 4 149 times that of the ordinary worker. This does not imply that the CEO is paid a puny salary for which the profit share is meant to compensate."
Hermann claims that the CEO receives a profit share of 130% of his salary, while the profit share of workers is only 4% of their salaries. The trade unions also want Telkom to pay the same salaries for the same work, and demand that the moratorium on retrenchments be extended and re-negotiable.
"The CEO is paid approximately R7 million a year, excluding profit share. Although Telkom refuses to disclose the CEO`s profit share for this year, his total remuneration is expected to exceed R15 million if the profit share is included," Hermann maintains.
Protracted talks
Workers are set to down tools on Monday and continue industrial action through to Wednesday, kicking off with a mass march to Telkom`s head offices, says Hermann.
All 14 000 union members are expected to participate in the protected strike across SA. According to the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) strike certificate that was issued to the unions, non-unionised employees will also be protected during the strike.
The strike action comes after four months of protracted negotiations with Telkom, says Hermann, during which no agreement could be reached, and talks deadlocked after intervention by the CCMA, prompting the unions to call for strike action.
The trade unions, he adds, also intend to appoint a commission of enquiry to draw comparisons between the Telkom profit share model and that of other companies, as well as with guidelines contained in the King Report.
"The commission will consist of an economist, a legal expert and a labour relation expert. Support will be enlisted from international telecommunication and other trade unions. It is anticipated that support will be forthcoming from around 40 countries," Hermann says.
CWU head of communications Mfanafuthi Sithebe would not comment ahead of this morning`s press conference.
The third trade union in Telkom, the South African Communications Union, has already accepted Telkom`s wage offer, as well as the profit-sharing model, and will not participate in the strike.
Telkom could not comment by the time of publication.
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