Telkom postpones outsourcing move
UNIONS opposing a controversial move by Telkom to outsource a huge portion of its daily operations affecting thousands of workers have won a reprieve, with tenders put on hold for further talks.
No deals will be signed with outsourcing firms until April. Telkom said this was decided in consultation with three unions.
The Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) and South African Communications Union had threatened to strike if Telkom bulldozed through its plan to hire external parties to run its networking infrastructure and IT processes. Solidarity did not oppose outsourcing in theory, but objected to jobs being lost.
Telkom said it recognised organised labour was a vital stakeholder, and agreed to defer the project.
The group hoped outsourcing its networks and IT systems would cut costs by R1,3bn a year, but unions said the human cost was too high, affecting 19000 of the 26000 staff. Telkom told unions the outsourcing partners would absorb staff, but they declared a dispute.
CWU national treasurer Richard Poulton said yesterday he was pleased. “We are not saying that Telkom shouldn’t continue restructuring, but restructuring doesn’t automatically equal outsourcing,” he said.
“There has to be consultation, and if there are some inefficiencies the parties must look at ways to find a solution.”
The unions would hire a consultant to help compile other ways to cut costs, improve service and meet Telkom’s duty to take services to the poor, he said. “Outsourcing is a bad idea, but restructuring isn’t. By April we will be able to present alternative proposals,” Poulton said.
Taking voice and data services to poor communities was crucial for development, and outsourcing just to save money and boost efficiency neglected Telkom’s duty to support SA’s development, he said.
Telkom is midway through shedding its 50% Vodacom stake by selling 15% to Vodafone and distributing 35% to its own shareholders. As its remaining assets will be fixed-line infrastructure and operations, it may reconsider outsourcing that.
Poulton said it was difficult to speculate on whether Telkom strategy would change after shedding Vodacom. “If they are of the view that they need time to rethink that’s their choice, but we will be able to provide a very good model instead of outsourcing everything.”
The huge contract to handle day-to-day Telkom operations attracted interest from groups including Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Cisco.
But an insider said the process was flawed as Amdocs and HP were favoured bidders, with Amdocs to run operations and absorb Telkom staff and HP to supply the hardware. He said political concern at the rumours might explain partly why Telkom delayed the project.
Telkom capability management chief Theo Hess denies there are favoured bidders, saying the process is transparent.
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