Johannesburg - Trade union Solidarity said on Thursday it was concerned that Telkom would soon cut jobs.
Telkom presented its proposals on planned severance packages to trade unions on Tuesday.
Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp said Telkom indicated that it would not negotiate with trade unions about the content of the proposed packages.
The packages are set to take effect on April 1, a day after the expiry of an agreement concluded in 2009 between several trade unions and Telkom
[JSE:TKG] in terms of which employees' job security was guaranteed until March 31 2011.
No one was immediately available for comment at Telkom. The company, which has been hamstrung by a money-losing Nigerian business, has been looking to cut costs and focus on its new mobile operation at home.
In November it said 186 managers had agreed to leave the company at a cost of R144m.
Telkom was planning to offer voluntary severance packages last year. However, when Jeffrey Hedberg was appointed as acting CEO he put a stop to the plan because it would not make "business sense", Croucamp said.
"Now that Hedberg has not renewed his contract, the plan is being tabled again, although it still does not make sense to get rid of skilled employees to the detriment of service delivery," he said.
The trade union said Telkom had also indicated that it would not provide reasons for accepting applications for packages.
"The process is therefore not transparent and discrimination on the basis of race and gender is a real possibility," Croucamp said
The voluntary packages will be offered from February 21 to March 18. Staff who terminate their services on March 31 would qualify for six months' salary, while those who leave on April 30 would only qualify for four months' salary.
In processing applications, consideration would be paid to the first-in, first-out policy, whether there are excess skills in certain departments, restructuring and age, Solidarity said.