MTN employees on strike

POLOKWANE – Communication Workers Union (CWU) members at MTN went on strike at the regional office and MTN call centres in the city on Wednesday morning.

According to Mack Mamorobele, provincial secretary of the CWU, whether the strike would remain a one-day strike or not would depend on the outcome of the union’s engagements with management.

MTN employees who were members of the CWU comprised 2 000 of the company’s 6 500 workers countrywide, he said.

“We might continue if the outcome is not positive,” he said. “Either way, operations at the call centres and regional offices will be affected,” he added.

According to a press release by the CWU’s national office the CWU had declared a dispute with MTN and was prepared for a strike over substantive issues which included salary increments and unfair labour practises.

“Since March 12 workers at various MTN warehouses have been embarking on work stoppages to demonstrate their dissatisfaction over management’s reluctance to address their concerns, in particular the issue of annual bonuses. Over the years, the company has been giving workers 30% ex-gratia payments based on its productivity but promised to review this owing to a reduced profit margin. The company is now offering workers a paltry 4% guaranteed bonus whereas workers are demanding 16%,” the press release stated.

“The CWU has had several discussions over a couple of months with the company to try and amicably resolve our issues,” CWU deputy general secretary, Thabo Mogalane, stated in the press release.

“We were left with no option but to refer the matter to the Council for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) which heard the case on May 6, wherein the company further showed contempt for the process by sending in junior representatives who were completely clueless on the issue.

“The CCMA awarded the CWU a certificate of dispute which effectively grants us permission to go on strike. As a union, we will be embarking on a full-blown national strike at MTN. We can no longer tolerate the arrogance and plain refusal of the company to meet the legitimate, reasonable and affordable demands of workers,” Mogalane said.

The CWU threatened to “unleash the organised might of workers to bring operations at MTN to a total shutdown” and said “the management of MTN must brace themselves for the biggest industrial action ever in the company’s history”.

MTN’s chief human resources officer, Themba Nyathi, told Review that the CWU was not a recognised union at MTN because it did not have the required numbers yet. “In Polokwane the CWU represents 17% of staff,” he said. “One requires 30% to be recognised.”

On Tuesday Nyathi said MTN had made contingency plans to prevent any disruptions. “Our customers and personnel are very important.”