http://www.finance24.co.za/Finance/Companies/0,,1518-24_1573810,00.html
Gurus to lead Telkom probe
16/08/2004 19:33 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Three Telkom unions have jointly appointed a commission of inquiry "to investigate the legal, economic, and technical motivations for Telkom's retrenchments".
Advisers to this commission include economist Dawie Roodt and advocate John Grogan. Also participating are Charles Snyman, an investment consultant, Peter Benjamin of the Open Knowledge Network, Charley Lewis from the University of the Witwatersrand, legal advisor AC van Wyk, as well as three former senior Telkom managers.
The commission will present its results in the first week of September.
Telkom, however, has reportedly refused to participate in the commission.
Unions say obtaining a court interdict against Telkom's severance packages was the beginning and not the end of the fight.
The three unions - Solidarity, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the SA Communication Union - have united to try to prevent the phased retrenchment of more than 4 000 Telkom employees, due to have started this month.
"We aim to show that Telkom can still be efficient with the number of people they have got," Joe Chauke, president of the CWU told journalists in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
However, Telkom responded by saying it was acting in a sufficiently consultative manner through continuing talks facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
"We are following the legal process," spokesperson Ravin Maharaj told Sapa on Monday. He did not want to comment on Telkom's reasons for not participating in the commission.
Govt is yet to act
The court interdict, granted in the Braamfontein Labour Court on Sunday, has given the unions a brief reprieve.
It prevented the telecommunications utility from offering voluntary severance packages until it had gone through proper consultation with the unions.
Telkom said in a statement on Monday that it would honour the court judgment, but the moment the consultation process was over on September 14, it would start implementing the packages.
Telkom insisted the severance packages were voluntary, but this was "a complete joke" said Dirk Hermann of Solidarity.
He said they were more appropriately named "suicide packages". People took the packages because they were afraid if they did not, they would be retrenched anyway.
The unions claim the parastatal has a social responsibility to retain its employees.
Hermann said the government was failing in its people's contract to create jobs if it allowed Telkom, in which it was still a major shareholder, to continue with the retrenchments.
The unions had approached the department of communications and the department of public enterprises on this matter, said Sithebe. So far there had been no response.
"We are pleading with Telkom to change its attitude and work with us to save jobs," said Dawie de Wet, also of Solidarity.
He said this approach had worked previously in the mining sector and with the police services.
Edited by Mahap Msiza
<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">
Gurus to lead Telkom probe
16/08/2004 19:33 - (SA)
Johannesburg - Three Telkom unions have jointly appointed a commission of inquiry "to investigate the legal, economic, and technical motivations for Telkom's retrenchments".
Advisers to this commission include economist Dawie Roodt and advocate John Grogan. Also participating are Charles Snyman, an investment consultant, Peter Benjamin of the Open Knowledge Network, Charley Lewis from the University of the Witwatersrand, legal advisor AC van Wyk, as well as three former senior Telkom managers.
The commission will present its results in the first week of September.
Telkom, however, has reportedly refused to participate in the commission.
Unions say obtaining a court interdict against Telkom's severance packages was the beginning and not the end of the fight.
The three unions - Solidarity, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) and the SA Communication Union - have united to try to prevent the phased retrenchment of more than 4 000 Telkom employees, due to have started this month.
"We aim to show that Telkom can still be efficient with the number of people they have got," Joe Chauke, president of the CWU told journalists in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.
However, Telkom responded by saying it was acting in a sufficiently consultative manner through continuing talks facilitated by the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).
"We are following the legal process," spokesperson Ravin Maharaj told Sapa on Monday. He did not want to comment on Telkom's reasons for not participating in the commission.
Govt is yet to act
The court interdict, granted in the Braamfontein Labour Court on Sunday, has given the unions a brief reprieve.
It prevented the telecommunications utility from offering voluntary severance packages until it had gone through proper consultation with the unions.
Telkom said in a statement on Monday that it would honour the court judgment, but the moment the consultation process was over on September 14, it would start implementing the packages.
Telkom insisted the severance packages were voluntary, but this was "a complete joke" said Dirk Hermann of Solidarity.
He said they were more appropriately named "suicide packages". People took the packages because they were afraid if they did not, they would be retrenched anyway.
The unions claim the parastatal has a social responsibility to retain its employees.
Hermann said the government was failing in its people's contract to create jobs if it allowed Telkom, in which it was still a major shareholder, to continue with the retrenchments.
The unions had approached the department of communications and the department of public enterprises on this matter, said Sithebe. So far there had been no response.
"We are pleading with Telkom to change its attitude and work with us to save jobs," said Dawie de Wet, also of Solidarity.
He said this approach had worked previously in the mining sector and with the police services.
Edited by Mahap Msiza
<b><hr noshade size="1"></b><font size="2"><font color="red"><b>You can take Telkom out of the Post Office but you can't take the Post Office out of Telkom.</b></font id="red"></font id="size2">