Telkom overhaul put on hold

Johannesburg - Telkom's "huge" project for the reorganisation of its activities will now be implemented only next year.

On Wednesday the company issued a statement in which it announced that the group and organised labour had taken a "joint decision" to postpone the implementation of the project to April next year. It refers to the process as "capacity management". The unions call it "restructuring".

With the publication of its financial results in June the telecommunications giant said it wanted simply to "redesign" its operations. Outsourcing would be only one of several options. Chief executive Reuben September declined to say how many employees would be affected because the process of identification had not been completed.

In June three unions - the Communication Workers' Union (CWU), the SA Communications Union (Sacu) and Solidarity - held a press conference in Pretoria to discuss Telkom's plans. The three unions together represent more than 16 000 members - about 70% of the Telkom workforce.

The unions declared that Telkom's plans involved the possible outsourcing of about 90% of its activities to other companies. This could apparently affect about 19 000 employees.

The three unions demanded additional time to investigate the situation and consider the pros and cons of the process before further action is taken by the company. Telkom had initially hoped to finalise approval for the process by August.

On Wednesday the company announced that it had concluded a memorandum of understanding with the unions in which the new date for the "huge" project - as referred to by September - had been determined.

Solidarity said it welcomed Telkom's decision.

- Sake24