Telkom CEO welcomes agreement with union

TELKOM has welcomed the negotiated settlement it had reached with its workers saying it paved the way for the landline services company to speedily address critical issues faced by the company.

“We are extremely glad to have reached a negotiated settlement with the representatives of organised labour as Telkom places a high premium on the welfare and satisfaction of all our employees. Despite difficult current economic realities, Telkom has agreed to a two-year moratorium on forced
retrenchments, thereby providing certainty and stability both for Telkom and its employees. I am satisfied that, together with organised labour, we have utilised the process of substantive negotiations to collaboratively address critical issues in the shortest possible timeframe within the
context of Group affordability,” said chief executive Reuben September.

In concluding an agreement with the Communication Workers Union (CWU), Telkom said it has not only addressed the issue of annual general salary increases for its bargaining unit staff, but has also taken another major step towards addressing the issue of salary disparities that have resulted
from historical issues.
The membership of CWU had embarked on industrial action from 3-14 August 2009. In the final settlement, Telkom and CWU agreed to a 7.5 percent general salary increase and a two-year moratorium on forced retrenchments.

The parties also agreed to an accelerated process to address salary
disparities and that all future increases will be performance based.
On average, this translates to an 11.22% increase for bargaining unit
staff and all adjustments are effective from 1 August 2009.

“With the support and approval of our Board, Telkom has systematically and
proactively addressed the matter of salary disparities,” said September.

He emphasised that last week’s agreement further demonstrated that he
could count on the support of all Telkom’s employees as the Group
implemented its new strategy under its new organisational structure.
“I have always maintained that Telkom’s personnel provides us with the
most solid foundation for refocusing our strategic imperatives in order to
maintain our leadership position in South Africa while expanding
geographically to become a fully-fledged Pan-African operator,” he
concluded.