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=Telkom's hubris gets workers fighting back=

Business Report, Johannesburg, March 31, 2006
Telkom provides one of the clearest examples of the yawning wage and welfare gap within South African corporations.

And it is this, as much as anything else, that underlies the bitterness and determination of Telkom workers as they prepare for a showdown with their employer.

To the evident surprise of Telkom management, the admittedly weakened unions have shown that they still have substantial support and the capacity to fight back. It was probably this that lay behind the decision of the Telkom management to withdraw the threat this week to impose a wage settlement.

Telkom's announcement on Wednesday that it would "reinstate" the company's "revised offer" amounts to a softening of the former hardline stance, opening the way for further talks.

These could lead to a deal acceptable to the unions, but a legacy of bitterness is likely to remain.

The bitterness is to be expected. And not only because of the widely publicised multimillion-rand bonuses awarded to top management; these are seen merely as insult added to the injury of a grossly distorted wage and benefits structure.

From a worker point of view, Telkom managers are seen to have rewarded themselves for causing hardship for thousands of workers and their families. As jobs have disappeared, profits have soared and management has lined its pockets.

The Cosatu-affiliated Communication Workers' Union (CWU) and the formerly whites-only Solidarity union were both weakened over recent years, with CWU membership falling below 50 percent of the workforce. Management apparently saw this a chance to tear up the union recognition agreement and deal individually with employees.

But in January, as the wages and conditions talks were about to begin, the CWU and Solidarity formed a united front, the Coalition of Telkom Unions (CTU). It represents 54 percent of the employees.

The CTU came to the table having surveyed the company's wage structure for the six months to September. Union researchers discovered that the 2 304 managers in a staff of more than 25 000 accounted for almost half the wage bill: 48.9 percent to be exact. This translates to the managers receiving R1.771 billion, while more than 23 000 workers shared R1.844 billion.

Privately, union officials will concede that Telkom management moved at a time when the unions were weakened and when perhaps as many as 30 000 jobs had already been lost. The fightback has come with the formation of the CTU and the use of internet communications that keep every branch and unit up to date on every twist of negotiations.

This direct involvement of the rank and file at every point is given as one of the main reasons for the unity among the workers, which seems to extend beyond the 54 percent who are union members. There is also a degree of confidence that more of the Telkom workforce will join or rejoin the unions.

It is from these grass roots that the call has come for Telkom to sack its head of employee relations, George Nkadimeng.

Nkadimeng is the face of what the unionists see as Telkom's union bashing policy. But what makes the situation doubly galling, especially for CWU members, is the fact that Nkadimeng is a former first vice-president of Cosatu.

Yet it was he who, two years, ago justified large-scale lay-offs as "a business imperative".

But the attack on Nkadimeng is merely a warning to "an arrogant and largely unaccountable management". It is a warning that some union members hope will trigger a shareholder rebellion.

And the union members, courtesy of their efficient communications network, are fully aware that the largest individual shareholder, with nearly 38 percent of the equity, is the government.

When indirect holdings are added, the state appears to control 52 percent of Telkom.

With the major shareholder publicly committed to social equity, the CTU cannot see how massive disparities in pay, housing allowance, medical aid and other benefits will go on being tolerated.

"But we did warn when Telkom was listed that this sort of thing would happen. It's time for it to stop," says CWU spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe.

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 * From: http://www.busrep.co.za/index.php?fSectionId=553&fArticleId=3183973