COSATU+backs+Telkom+and+security+guard+struggles



=COSATU backs workers’ struggles= The Congress of South African Trade Unions declares its full support for two groups of workers currently in dispute nationally with their employers - the security guards and the Telkom staff. The demands of the unions in both disputes are in line with COSATU’s Jobs and Poverty Campaign, which aims to save and create jobs, raise the living standards of the lowest paid and redistribute the country’s wealth more equitably. At the heart of the Telkom conflict is the demand for a reduction in the wealth gap. Top management are earning millions, while the workers struggle to make a decent living. In 2005 Telkom’s previous CEO was paid R6 971 568.00, while the lowest paid worker got R46 972.00, a differential of 148:1! From 1 April 2005 to 30 September 2005 just over R1, 3 billion was spent on the salaries of about 2300 managers, while R 1,8 billion was spent on the salaries of 23 500 workers. Workers in the same grade, working on the same technology, doing the same job, earn hugely different salaries. The unions give the example of a worker on the lowest end of one of the grades who is earning R3177.00 per month less than a worker on the top end of the grade, although they are doing the same job. We back the call for an end to this discriminatory practice. The unions are absolutely right to demand an 8, 5% increase for workers lower than the supervisory grades and 7, 5% for supervisors and specialists. As they say in their memorandum to Telkom: “While management continue to reap the benefits of workers’ sweat, the standard of living of workers has continued to drop”. The workers are also absolutely justified in their demand for a fairer share of the company’s profits, and in rejecting Telkom’s grossly unequal scheme for distributing shares. The board gave the CEO more than 17 000 shares in 2004 and, as a show of loyalty, gave workers on operational level 35 shares each! We must also never forget that Telkom workers have seen the loss of 30 000 jobs since 1999, and that at one stage management threatened to derecognise the Communications Workers Union (CWU). COSATU backs the Telkom workers call for an end to the jobs bloodbath and for Telkom to play its part in the Accelerated Share Growth initiative of South Africa (ASGISA). As they say: “One job loss is one too many”. The striking security workers face even more severe problems. They daily risk their lives protecting the property and lives of the wealthy, yet are amongst the most exploited and underpaid group of workers in South Africa. COSATU is 100% behind their fight to improve their wages and working conditions. The unions’ demand for an 11% increase across the board and an additional 4% increase for the lowest paid is entirely justified. So are their other demands such as raising the nightshift allowance from R2 to R3.50, a meal break for all workers and the development and implementation of HIV/AIDS policy. COSATU echoes the comment of the unions - that security workers have a role to play in this economy but that security firms have been consistently stubborn and uncompromising, and seem bent on keeping security workers grossly underpaid. COSATU will back whatever actions the unions take in both these disputes to ensure that their members are properly paid for the vital work they do and will not stand by and see them defeated. 1-5 Leyds Cnr Biccard Streets, Braamfontein, 2017 P.O.Box 1019, Johannesburg, 2000, South Africa Tel: +27 11 339-4911/24, Fax: +27 11 339-5080/6940, E-Mail: patrick@cosatu.org.za
 * Patrick Craven (Editor, Shopsteward Journal), Congress of South African Trade Unions