More job worries for ex-Telkom staff

Johannesburg - Over 200 ex-Telkom staff have been issued with consultation letters at their new employer WNS.

In June, Telkom announced a restructuring process in which it planned to offer 4 400 employees voluntary severance or early retirement packages.

Telkom further said it planned to transfer another 3 400 employees to outsourced companies.

One such company that received 255 former Telkom staff this year was WNS, a business process outsourcing firm.

But on Thursday, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said that WNS had changed the employment conditions of ex-Telkom staff by allegedly not maintaining their benefits, intending to relocate them and considering possible retrenchments.

WNS managing director Johann Kunz issued a response to Fin24 via email regarding the CWU claims.

“In the course of transferring Telkom staff to WNS, we have fully complied with all aspects of the applicable labour legislation, as well as with all the previous Telkom terms and conditions of employment for transferred employees,” Kunz told Fin24.

“Notice of consultation letters were issued to 255 of the Telkom staff transferred to WNS due to a consolidation of positions from Gauteng and the Free State to Port Elizabeth and Durban. Final impact can only be determined during the consultation process,” said Kunz.

CWU’s complaint against Telkom’s outsourcing process came hot on the heels of a similar issue raised by trade union Solidarity.

Last week, Solidarity said employees who had been transferred from Telkom to Barloworld Logistics, as part of a section 197 process, are again facing retrenchment. Barloworld Logistics has a supply chain contract with Telkom.

But Barloworld Logistics spokesperson Kate Stubbs told Fin24 that while her company plans to reduce its number of warehouses from 35 to 17, the company does not intend cutting jobs of ex-Telkom staff.

Barloworld Logistics also said that of 112 employees working on these warehouse sites, the company was looking to identify the “best opportunity” for 86 affected staff.

“The reduction in the number of sites does not, however, imply a reduction in staff,” Stubbs told Fin24 last week.