Who has it toughest?
Solidarity said that, with other unions, it had demanded a wage increase of 16 percent on employees’ basic salary. It also insisted that a moratorium be placed on retrenchments.
In the previous round of negotiations, Telkom made an offer of only 7.5 percent.
Solidarity maintains that this, effectively an increase of about 6.5 percent for the majority of employees in the company, is not a workable offer.
Solidarity’s demand for this year’s negotiations with Telkom is based on the current consumer price index (CPI) figure, medical and food inflation, and inflation on administered prices.
The current CPI figure is already higher than in January, and it could rise in the coming months. Food inflation stands at 15.8 percent.
But according to some industry experts, unions are making life tough for labour brokers and recruitment agencies by pushing for companies to employ staff full time when the companies only have a need, in certain vacancies, for part-time work.
But labour brokers and recruitment agencies are looking after their bottom lines, so somebody has to look after the long-term survival of employees.
These are tough times for employees, as retrenchments are looming in many sectors of the economy.
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