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.
Telkom did, however, agree to a consultation meeting with trade unions this coming Friday. "Meanwhile, members of management have already been invited to apply for voluntary severance packages, and this before consultations took place with trade unions regarding the conditions of the severance packages. The process should, therefore, be halted immediately so that consultations about the issue can take place first," Kleynhans demanded.
Solidarity is also concerned about the possible unfairness of Telkom's selection criteria that could be used in applications for voluntary retrenchment. During the presentation to trade unions, the company indicated that race and gender could be used as criteria if too many applications were received from a single department. However, the trade union believes that if these criteria were used in a retrenchment process, it would be regarded as unfair discrimination," according to Kleynhans.
Meanwhile, Solidarity warns that if the voluntary retrenchments are carried through, Telkom runs the risk of losing a large number of highly skilled managers. "Nearly a quarter of all managers in Telkom are 50 years and older. This means that a large number of employees with many years of experience and a lot of expertise could now leave Telkom. That would result in a tremendous loss of expertise at Telkom," Kleynhans warned.
Telkom claims that the voluntary retrenchments are being made available to ensure that the ratio of managers to staff is reduced. In the telecommunications industry, there is currently one manager for every 8,3 employees. Telkom wants to adjust this to one manager for every 12,6 employees.
Employees who do decide to take the voluntary severance packages currently available and who leave by 31 May will receive, in addition to the benefits prescribed by law (i.e. two weeks' salary for every completed year of service), six months' salary. Employees who resign by 30 June, will receive five months' salary while those who resign by 31 July will receive four months' salary. In terms of Telkom's programme, employees have until 2 July to apply for voluntary retrenchment.
Statement issued by Jaco Kleynhans, Solidarity spokesman, April 19 2010
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