Labour court orders Telkom to halt job cuts - as it happened

Marius Croucamp of Solidarity told Fin24 that the Labour Court decision is a "victory for workers".

A cost order was also granted in favour of Solidarity against Telkom.

Solidarity: In terms of this agreement, Telkom has to meet with trade unions and reach a settlement before the company may embark on a restructuring process. Although the unions had declared a dispute with Telkom on 19 June over the planned retrenchments, Telkom carried on to issue a section 189 retrenchment notice to trade unions on 22 June.

Judge David Gush on Wednesday morning ruled in favour of Solidarity. “The first respondent (Telkom) is ordered to withdraw its (Section 189) notices,” said Gush.

Solidarity Deputy General Secretary Johan Kruger says the court order signals a clear message against unfair restructuring processes. “This judgment is a victory for Telkom workers who are regularly being subjected to restructuring processes. Solidarity will do everything in its power to ensure that Telkom abide by the court order and follow the correct procedures,” Kruger said.

Telkom spokesperson Jacqui O'Sullivan told Fin24 that Telkom believed it showed an "inordinate amount of information". Telkom maintains that its met with unions over five times to discuss the process.

"Once the dispute is resolved we'll continue with the restructuring of Telkom," said O'Sullivan.

Telkom now has to go back to the table with unions to share more information. Telkom

"We're dissapointed with the judgment," said O'Sullivan.

"The restructuring of Telkom is a business imperative.

"While today is temporary delay it does not stop the restructuring of Telkom," she said.

The court ordered on Wednesday morning that Telkom withdraw its section 189 notices which deal with the company's retrenchments process. The court has further ordered that Telkom go back to the table to speak to unions further on the matter.

Marius Croucamp of Solidarity, told Fin24 that the decision in the Labour Court is a "victory for workers".

"The CCMA cannot proceed," said Croucamp.

Telkom had organised that the CCMA would consult a meeting today on the restructuring. But the court has ordered that it cannot happen anymore.

The dispute centres around different interpretations of a restructuring forum between Telkom and unions and what decision-making powers it has. Telkom has launched a section 189 process, which deals with retrenchments.

Telkom argued that a restructuring forum was a pure information forum and not a decision making one. Solidarity has argued that it's not received enough information on the job cuts.

Judge David Gush is running over the details of the arguments from both Telkom and Solidarity. Telkom says it have five consultations with unions regarding its restructuring.

Judge David Gush has just entered the court room.

Solidarity has further criticised Telkom’s enterprise development programme.“Our members do not have enough information to be able to take the necessary decisions. This process simply has to be halted until proper consultations with trade unions have taken place and all the information has been made available,” Croucamp said.

In a joint statement on June 19, the South African Communications Union (Sacu), Solidarity and the Communication Workers Union (CWU) accused Telkom of allegedly turning its back on a restructuring forum format.

Telkom: "hey would also be required to have the correct qualifications and training and importantly, the necessary aptitude and attitude to be a part of the Telkom of the future."

Telkom: "Most importantly, we are a technical company so our people must be equipped with the necessary skills to perform the required body-of-work."

Telkom: "As with any company, Telkom looks at a number of employment criteria in deciding to bring people into the company or to retain them during times of change."

Telkom: "Telkom would prefer to focus on the consultation that it has been initiated and will take place within the structured LRA process, rather than pursuing media headlines with misleading hyperbole."

Telkom: "It's regrettable that Solidarity has chosen to play the race card again, in the context of a process that needs to address critical challenges that the company is facing."

Telkom: "The inflammatory and misleading inference by Solidarity that race is the key selection criterion and that white employees will be targeted, is unequivocally rejected."

Telkom: "In its notice issued to the unions in terms of section 189 of the LRA, Telkom proposed that 'LIFO (Last in First Out) subject to the retention of scarce and critical skills and where applicable, employment equity considerations' be used as the selection criteria."

Telkom responded to Solidarity’s "misleading and inflammatory racial statements" on June 24.

Croucamp: “We believe the section 189 notice is premature and that Telkom should first provide for dispute resolution before the process can continue. In addition, the use of race as a selection criteria is not in the best interests of the company and it also contravenes the principles of Telkom’s restructuring forum."

Croukamp: "It is not only unfair to the employees who are once again subject to a comprehensive retrenchment process, but it will also lead to a massive break in trust between employees and management."

Croupamp: “Telkom simply cannot be allowed to force the restructuring process on employees."

According to Marius Croucamp, head of the Communication Industry at Solidarity, the union is hopeful that the court will intervene for the sake of the workers.

Judge David Gush reserved judgement on Tuesday in Solidarity’s urgent application against Telkom’s restructuring process. The application, which was heard in the Labour Court in Johannesburg, was lodged after Telkom disregarded the agreement with trade unions with regard to restructuring processes.

“We believe that the application of affirmative action targets as selection criteria during retrenchment processes is contrary to the Employment Equity Act. Based on this, we requested Telkom to withdraw the notice,” Solidarity’s head of the telecommunications industry, Marius Croucamp, said in a statement.

Trade union Solidarity says white employees of Telkom will “bear the brunt” of the telecommunication company’s retrenchment process.

Telkom plans to cut thousands of jobs as its core fixed-line business comes under pressure.

According to Telkom's annual results for the year ended March 2015, demand for its voice services plummeted.

Telkom's total number of fixed access lines, which includes voice users, fell 4.9% during the period from 3.618 million to 3.439 million for the full year ending March 2015.Telkom’s fixed-line voice usage revenue decreased 13.5% during the period to R6.867bn (March 2014: R7.934bn).

In the Johannesburg Labour Court on Tuesday, trade union Solidarity's legal team argued the following regarding Telkom's plan to cut thousands of jobs:

"The applicants (Solidarity) say they don't have sufficient information to consider things," said Solidarity's lawyer Craig Watt-Pringle."Telkom is not complying with the process," he said.

However, Telkom's legal team said that prior to issuing Section 189 notices on June 19, it held five meetings on the matter.

Judge David Gush today, at 11am, will start handing down judgment on an urgent interdict by trade union Solidarity to halt a job cutting process at Telkom. Solidarity's legal team on Tuesday argued that Telkom had not disclosed sufficient information regarding the job cuts, which could affect up to 4 400 staff at the company.