Open letter of appeal to the ANC top six
22 August 2016
Basically this letter it is a plea to yourselves for an immediate direct intervention pertaining to the affairs in Telkom. In numerous times we have sent our National Office Bearers led by President Clyde Mervin to engage you on workers’ abuse that is happening in Telkom and the only report that we have received is disappointing because it is says nothing but, there will be follow-up meetings with us after you as the African National Congress (ANC) has met with the Group CEO Mr Sipho Maseko and till to date nothing happened. Furthermore we have marched to this revolutionary house twice this year handing over similar memorandum on both occasions. All of these are done because Telkom is a State owned Company (SoC) in an ANC led government in South Africa.
We will never forget 1994 when the majority of South Africans voted ANC into power with high expectations. The core of that wish list was to eradicate apartheid laws that favoured whites, for example bloating Telkom management with white managers whilst blacks were subjected to hard labour (gangs) and got paid peanuts. Also to make sure those employees who are performing the same job to be paid equally irrespective of their skin colour. It was a gain to see more people getting employed in particular the black youth by Telkom after the liberalisation that was concluded by splitting Telkom and Post Office in 1991.
In 1998 after many of us came to Telkom with the view that apartheid was something of the past, three years down the line Telkom started with the onslaught of workers through retrenchments and outsourcing that are still continuing today. Thousands of workers were either retrenched or outsourced to companies like TFMC, Molapo technologies to mention but a few. Hard as it was, engagements between organised labour and management took place across different platforms. Those engagements even included the ANC to try and make sure that the impact was minimal and guarantees were in place in particular for outsourced employees.
The same mentality of engagements continued between parties and Collective Agreements aligned to the Labour Relations Act of 1995, the Employment Equity Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act to mention but a few came into place. For example, a Restructuring Forum Agreement that had to be adhered to if the company want to restructure, Employment Equity structures with an objective to push for transformation via employment equity and affirmative action,and not forgetting Substantive Negotiations Agreements to-try to eradicate the apartheid wage gaps. These apartheid wage gaps were influenced by the apartheid regime due to the fact that the pay modality made sure that white employees are paid more than black people.
There was acknowledgement from the company’s side that indeed there are salary anomalies and parties engaged on how to resolve them. It started with the agreement achieved after a lengthy strike in 2006 that was followed by another agreement in 2009 also through a strike. In 2013 the parties reviewed the progress and agreed that the first two models were not assisting and came up with a new model that was market based. Remuneration specialists where appointed and benchmarked all the positions in Telkom with other Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies.
The company opted for a Differentiation Reward Model (DRM) as a pay philosophy that was supported by labour after a robust consultation. For instance if other ICT companies pay their employees at the top notch of the salary scale of R100 000 it was regarded as 100th percentile. After give and take as Telkom was not doing well financially due to failures by management of the Multilinks catastrophe that saw Telkom losing billions of rands in Nigeria without and accountability, and-the selling of Vodacom shares post warnings by COSATU that made sure that Telkom loses the golden goose that laid the golden egg. We agreed with Telkom that all the employees must be at least at the 50th percentile of the ICT market that can be R50 000 within three years. Furthermore to avoid chasing the moving target, for those who were above the 75th percentile majority being whites that in this example will be R75 000 will be capped and whatever increase they receive will not be subsumed into their packages but paid aside as this will assist to reduce the gap. All of these gains were all aligned to the values, principles and even various resolutions of the ANC.
It was a three year agreement, the first two years were implemented accordingly and in the third year all hell broke loose under the leadership of Mr Sipho Maseko. It felt like we have just pressed the rewind button on a tape deck machine. Telkom is refusing to move all the employees to the 50th percentile of the market. Telkom felt that it is time to reverse all the gains that our stalwarts like comrades Chris Hani, Hector Peterson, Chief Albert Luthuli and others died for by removing the capping of the 75th percentile.
On the 7thMay 2014we went to vote during the national elections and on the 10ththe ANC was declared a ruling party with an overwhelming majority that never required any coalition. However on Monday the 12thMay 2014Telkom SoC announced that they want to retrench managers named that exercise Fit for The Future. This was after the elections that we as CWU an affiliate of COSATU strongly campaigned for the ANC as per our Alliance resolutions. The same retrenchments that started the reduction of black qualified managers in Telkom and favoured whites who never went to school. Where is the Black Managers Forum (BMF)? Or it is because this was done by one of their own? We tried our level best to stop this and promises we made that it was the last one. Members started asking questions and as disciplined leaders we continued to defend.
In 2015 March Maseko announced that he want to outsource the call centres and stores and he was not taking any proposals from CWU and as members of we resorted to desperate measures and marched to the ANC deployed Minister Comrade Siyabonga Cwele at the Department of Telecommunications and Postal Services (DTPS) as common sense said that he is in charge of the government stake in Telkom or let us say a major shareholder with round up 40% stake of government plus PIC stake makes it more than 51 % that is majority. A memorandum was delivered to him in April 2015 nonetheless outsourcing continued and no response from Cwele till today. Currently majority of those workers who were outsourced have been retrenched and the remaining ones are working under the worst conditions in a multinational company called WNS. This started creating challenges for the union leadership when trying to defend the ANC as per our Alliance understanding. A member will boo a leader when saying Viva ANC because the same ANC is failing him/her.
We had to accept Cwele’s arrogance and mandated our NOBs to request meetings with you and that also never helped. The sad part is that ANC was bold enough to go on media and condemned the then intended retrenchments by the mines. For CWU a press statement was promised and we are still waiting. Internally we requested Maseko to call a workshop that will include management, labour, DTPS and even the ANC to try and have a common understanding about his vision on Telkom but he just ignored us as this is a trend these days. Because we love the ANC we went further and marched twice to Luthuli house this year and our demands were ignored. On the 14thJuly 2016 COSATU GAUTENG (all affiliates) further marched to Telkom and delivered a memorandum of demands and Maseko never responded to the Federation. First of its kind.
Members got irritated who at the end demanded that we go on a protected strike. The saddest part is that, it was on the eve of the local government election when we were trying to campaign for ANC as per the COSATU and our NEC resolutions. However members were clear that we cannot start campaigning for a party that cannot listen to the masses but we tried. Consistently members were booing leadership reason being that in the past ANC was giving us an ear but things have changed. Another memorandum was delivered to Telkom Head Office on the 2nd August 2016 and Maseko never responded. It did not end there on the 11th August 2016 we marched to JSE and in other provinces respectively where we also requested Maseko to come and received a memorandum and, guess what? He never pitched up as always. Most of the SoCs like Eskom and SAA are not doing well or forever asking for bailouts never retrenched workers and are giving them salary increase because it is not their doings if those companies are not performing well. Coming back to Telkom that is stable, profitable and having potential of growingworkers are subjected to 0% increase in front of Maseko who just decides when to give himself and his crew increases amounting to millions.
With the economic meltdown an ordinary worker in Telkom who never received an increase is subjected to daily e-toll fees, medical aid increases, inflation increase, electricity price hikes to mention but a few. Basically our last year take home has been reduced by those above mentioned increases. And we must say all is well.Again a decision was taken that lower ranked employees must forfeit their shares and on the other hand top management gave themselves a right to sell their shares for example Maseko and the Chief Financial Officer sold shares and got R12 million. The same company where transformation has been reversed in the past three years under a black CEO, black chairperson of the Board, black Minister, black State President and black Ruling Party President. Is this window dressing? Same workers who are told that going forward they must just forget about equal pay for job of equal value and those at 75th percentile will continue earning moreas the capping has been removed. Very sad indeed. The same company were there are no opportunities for black females who majority are technicians that are subjected to less maternity leave and are forced to leave work on the eve of giving birth so that they can have a 4 months maternity leave to heal, breast feed and bond with the little ones. The worst part is that after those four months they are expected to climb pools and opening heavy duty manholes immediately because there is no light duty.
Now and then Maseko is withdrawing from collective agreements that people sacrificed for. For example the Restructuring forum that was used in 1998 during the capability management process was scrapped, the Substantive agreement that was trying to assist to kill and destroy the apartheid wage gaps was violated, black qualified employees in management were recently retrenched and whites without qualifications have been saved. #Fact#. Everything these days is subjected to litigation due to the fact that Telkom has financial muscle. Maseko will just ignore any suggestion from CWU as members, want to know,who is Maseko accounting to? Or unless you tell us that he is a free agent.
There is no way that the ANC we know can arrogantly ignore the masses who are members and protecting someone who is not even a member, unless if he joined the ANC recently. Top Six is time to rise and grab the bull by its horns and call a spade a spade because what Maseko is telling us is that he is reversing all the gains of the struggle that people died for. From 23 000 to around 10 000 workers in three years.
Therefore we plea for you immediate intervention to meet our demands that are as follows:
- The removal of Sipho Maseko and Ian Russel!
- That Telkom pay our salaries as per our salary advices that we have received.
- Bridge the apartheid wage gap by moving all the employees to the 50th percentile of their Job families.
- 11% general increase into the new total packages.
- 6 months maternity leave.
- Status quo on Gainsharing must remain.
- 3-5 years moratorium on retrenchments and outsourcing.
- To force Telkom to call an urgent workshop that will include labour, management, government and the ANC to know what direction is Telkom and government want to take.
It is for the first time in the history of Telkom that Telkom have the Board Chairperson Mr Jabu Mabuza who never met our union leadership even when approached for his intervention during a crisis situation.
This letter is straight to the point that is why in return it will demand a direct response that has no technicalities. We cannot afford to be handed over to the apartheid regime. Or maybe we are expecting miracles that you cannot be able to address or take decisions on. If so be direct and tell us that we are knocking at the wrong door and furbish us with a correct address. Remember our neighbours are watching us.
Issued by Tshepang Lesiba, Deputy Chairperson Gauteng, CWU Gauteng, 22 August 2016
