Telkom's voluntary retrenchment plans - First consult, Solidarity demands
Loss of expertise will hurt Telkom, Solidarity warns
The trade union Solidarity today announced that Telkom's plans to go through with voluntary retrenchments at the company before consulting with trade unions is an act of bad faith. Therefore, Solidarity is now insisting that the telecommunications company must first have comprehensive consultations before the process is continued.
Solidarity's demand comes in reaction to Telkom's announcement this past Friday that voluntary severance packages have been made available to members of management at the company. Nearly 2 530 members of management received a memorandum in this regard on Friday. However, trade unions were only notified of the voluntary retrenchments during an information session on Friday.
"The mere fact that Telkom is considering retrenching employees, whether or not it is voluntary, means that, in terms of legislation, they first have to consult with trade unions. The complete Section 189 process should be followed," explained Solidarity spokesperson Jaco Kleynhans.
During the information session this past Friday, Telkom could not give trade unions an indication of how many people the company hopes will accept voluntary retrenchment packages. At the information session, Solidarity demanded that a two-year moratorium be placed on the retrenchment of members of management. "However, Telkom was not in favour of the proposal, which is a clear indication that these voluntary retrenchments simply have to pave the way for forced retrenchments. Telkom has no other option but to follow the fair and correct procedure," Kleynhans said.