STATEMENT RELEASED BY CWU ON THE OCCASION OF ITS MEDIA BRIEFING HELD ON18/02/2015 IN JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
PRELUDE
The Communication Workers Union (CWU), the largest and most organized, militant and progressive trade union in the South African ICT, Media and Broadcasting Industry - has convened this media conference for the purpose of briefing the media and the country as a whole on developments in the various companies and state utilities where we organize.
We believe the voice and position of workers in these concerns are of paramount importance and must be taken into account whenever major decisions or any meaningful restructuring of any workplace has to take place. We are not passive spectators but significant stakeholders representing workers who are the backbones of the respective economic sectors.
ON TELKOM
As CWU, we once more wish to reiterate our absolute dissatisfaction and disappointment with the manner in which Telkom has handled the company's restructuring process which at times runs counter to its Employment Equity Policy and the Act itself.
Of even more concern to us as organized labour is the brute inhuman intention by the management of Telkom to throw into the streets thousands of workers at a time when millions of South Africans are reeling from the worst socio-economic conditions as a result of the current local and global financial meltdown. Any retrenchments at this juncture will not only add to the growing reserve army of the unemployed, but will also plunge a significant section of our people further into untold hardship and misery.
This planned "major restructuring" of its field force division is quite disturbing as it comes not so long after Telkom's recent unlawful, humiliating and unceremonious removal and expulsion of over 500 Call Centre workers from their jobs. This was clearly a calculated act by the employer intended to counteract the implementation of the new Labour Relations Amendment Act protecting workers in temporary contracts such as those in the Telkom Call Centres.
And now to add salt to injury, the company is now embarking on another round of so-called restructuring to cut costs, the main intent and purpose of which is nothing else but to run down this important utility and render it incapable of carrying its critical mandate of rolling out and maintaining the telecommunications infrastructure in the country.
We note with absolute concern the fact that State-Owned Enterprises (SOEs) and parastatals have a tendency to be the most vicious and extremely brutal when it comes to privatization and retrenchments than the private sector.
Under normal circumstances, the state utilities are the ones that must lead by example in so far as job creation and the retention of existing jobs is concerned. As such, we do not expect to see a situation whereby Telkom is the one preoccupied with the merciless butchering of workers' jobs. Instead of contributing to the developmental agenda of the country as spelt out in government's programme of action, they are busy reproducing unemployment and poverty.
As a union, CWU stands firm and resolute in its opposition to any reckless restructuring or outsourcing process which involves retrenchments on a wider scale. Our members' jobs are in many instances their only livelihood source of income.
We shall, as we indicated before, do and use anything at our disposal, including but not limited to unleashing the organized might of our members - (the workers) through rolling mass action to register our dissatisfaction and force the hand of an irresponsible, inconsiderate and intransigent Telkom management. We target the 25th February 2015 to start our rolling mass action, we draw the significance of the day in that Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene will be delivering his budget speech to parliament on the day.
We further call for Telkom to immediately withdraw the letters of retrenchment and outsourcing sent to workers until such time all legally required processes are being followed. Unilateral decision-making by Telkom management from their air-conditioned ivory towers can no longer be tolerated.
On a positive note, we welcome the announcement made by President Jacob Zuma in his 2015 State of the Nation Address designating Telkom as the lead agency to assist with the roll out of broadband across the country. This will go a long way in creating a truly digital nation and a vibrant digital economy.
In our view, any agency or company designated as the National Broadband Champion would need the necessary capacity and technical know-how in fast-tracking the implementation of universal coverage for all South Africans including those in the most remote areas. It is our belief that this announcement has presented a golden opportunity for Telkom to create more jobs, however the opposite has been pronounced by the powers that be at Telkom Towers.
The current massacre of Telkom's human capital and skills base through mass retrenchments all in the name of cutting the employee cost-to-revenue ratio of the company does not augur well for additional mandate and responsibilities in relation to the pursuit of a national broadband solution for our country.
CWU will also seek clarity from the relevant Minister as to the envisaged role if any for Broadband Infraco and SENTECH in this entire project and how organized labour will be involved in the planning and execution of this critical roll out.
We are further aggrieved by the fact that the management has not displayed honesty, openness or integrity in its dealings with organized labour in the company consultation forum. They have in all respects negotiated with us in bad faith.
We therefore call upon Mr Sipho Maseko, the CEO of Telkom, and his team to stop treating us with contempt and show some respect if he perhaps expects some semblance of respect from organised labour.
SABC'S MEMORANDUM OF INCORPORATION
The unfortunate emergence of a document which the Minister of Communications signed on the 14thSeptember 2014 which gives her power to veto the SABC board's appointment of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating officer, and Chief Financial Officer is a cause for concern.
We agree with the SOS that these changes to the Memorandum of Incorporation "... are far-reaching and reduce the board's power significantly. They set the SABC up for micromanagement by the minister..." We also regard this initiative by the Minister as an attack on freedom of the media in general and on the independence of the SABC in particular.
This unfortunate step by the Minister goes against the grain of democratic values of the South African Constitution which she is expected to uphold and has the potential of taking us back to the past, where unity and diversity were undermined and has the potential of serving as an entry point of intolerance andkragdadigheid.
History teaches that when gains of freedom are rolled back in pursuit of accumulative interests of a particular stratum of society, dictatorship creeps in. 14th September 2014 was a sad and dark day for the SABC indeed!
SOUTH AFRICAN POST OFFICE (SAPO)
As a union, we remain concerned about the current crisis and the decline in management which has taken the turn for worst in the South African Post Office.
In the face of all these shenanigans, workers and the community are the ones who suffer the most. The ship is sinking and we believe only swift drastic and radical measures can rescue the situation in SAPO. For that reason, CWU calls for the following:
1. The immediate removal of the caretaker Mr Simo Lushaba as the administrator at SAPO. He is proving incompetent to execute the mandate for which he was appointed by government. Further to that, this character guy is a serious liability and a threat to the existence and the very survival of SAPO as he cost the company 16,6 to 20 million rand just in three months in consultants' fees as compared to the 5 million rand per annum which is what it cost the taxpayers to maintain the Board.
2. The Minister must fast-track the process of appointing a new Board for SAPO
3. We call on the management of SAPO to immediately withdraw the suspension of workers - our members and non-members alike and stop any form of intimidation and victimisation of workers through disciplinary processes or otherwise.
4. We call for the re-opening of all post office outlets that were illegally and unilaterally shut down by Dr "No Good" Lushaba so that services can be delivered to communities right near their doorsteps.
5. We reiterate our demand for a 15% salary increase backdated plus the appointment or conversion of all casual and so-called agency workers into permanent positions.
6. We demand that government must bail-out the South African Post Office as it has previously done with other SOEs. We further call on the state to do business with SAPO at all levels. We demand unconditional bail-out, because government is partly to blame by going against our clarion call over the past 10 years, to end corruption in the SAPO.
As a militant red trade union, we have made it crystal clear towards the last quarter of 2014 that we shall if the need arise not hesitate to call our members to the streets and embark on a total shut down of the Post Office in a manner that will make last year's strike (which in fact we did not call as CWU) to look like a Sunday school picnic.
This was not an empty threat on our part and now that we have obtained a certificate to strike issued by the CCMA, as per mandate given to us by members of CWU, we shall no longer beg the management of SAPO on the legitimate demands of workers.
In this regard, we are in a process of consultation with our members around the country through general meetings and subsequently, mass meetings in the form of iziMbizos at provincial level.
We believe that whilst we are doing so, this will give the employer an opportunity to sober up and reverse the sell-out agreement that was signed last year in December, forced down the throats of workers through the barrel of a gun by SAPO management. We hope they will now have the decency and the decorum to engage us meaningfully for workers to also accrue meaningful gains out of the process.
We shall neither retreat nor surrender! We shall not flinch!
We shall forge ahead with our historic mission, a noble mission to liberate workers from the chains of wage slavery and capitalist exploitation!
Asijiki!! Aluta Continua!! We shall Overcome!!!
Statement issued by Aubrey Tshabalala, General Secretary, Communication Workers Union, February 18 2015
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