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Johannesburg - An agreement between Telkom and Solidarity about Telkom's restructuring and retrenchment process was made a court order by the Labour Court in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Solidarity said.
"In terms of the court order a facilitator must be appointed to facilitate the consultations regarding the proposed retrenchments," deputy general secretary Johan Kruger said in a statement.
"The court order further states that Telkom is prohibited from making any appointments or carrying out any retrenchments until the facilitation process has been concluded."
The facilitation process began on Monday.
"We trust that the new consultation process led by a facilitator will take place correctly and transparently," Kruger said.
"We are delighted that the legal process that we followed together with the public pressure against Telkom's planned layoffs had the desired effect."
He said the court order was a victory in the larger fight for the jobs of Solidarity members.
"We are aware that the big fight regarding Telkom's business rationale and the proposed use of race as a selection criterion still lies ahead," he said.
"Solidarity is determined to do its utmost to protect the rights of its members both during and after the consultation process."
The agreement between Telkom and Solidarity was reached on Thursday.
Solidarity spokesperson Marius Croucamp said in a statement at the time that it also halted the process where Telkom intended using race as a layoff criteria.
On July 3, Telkom spokesperson Pynee Chetty said the company would use various criteria during retrenchments.
"It is important to note that employment equity is only one of the criteria that will be applied to these processes."
Other criteria included qualification and experience, best fit for the job and "last one in, first one out".
"That will be when more than one employee qualifies for a position," Chetty said at the time.
