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Two South African trade unions have said they will take part state-owned operator Telkom to court over planned retrenchments, according to a report.
Reuters reports the South African Communications Union (SACU) said it believes Telkom has plans to retrench nearly 50 per cent of its employees, lowering its numbers from 19,000 to 10,000 individuals.
“We are drawing up the papers so that we can refer the matter. We intend going to court on the issue of the company not consulting with us,” Karriem Abrahams, SACU general secretary, is quoted as saying.
However Telkom has denied the accusations, saying it was “not targeting specific numbers of individuals”.
The company said it has plans cut out some of its management structures but numbers had not been decided upon.
HumanIPO reported in May Telkom had plans to retrench 25 per cent of its employees in an attempt to offset declining fixed line revenues and improve performance, aiming to cut costs by ZAR1 billion (US$93 million) over the next five years.
Trade union Solidarity later claimed the retrenchments would be made on a racial basis.
The union comprises mostly of White South Africans.
“Apparently, Telkom hopes to reduce its number of white employees by means of the restructuring process,” said Marius Croucamp, Solidarity’s head of industry.
The union has now said it would file a court petition to prevent Telkom from retrenching of any of its members based on race.
