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Trade union Solidarity on Monday declared a dispute with telecommunications group Telkom over its latest retrenchment process, threatening to take the matter to the Labour Court if Telkom failed to retract the retrenchment notices sent to 105 employees last week.
Telkom, in an ongoing effort to trim expenses and pull the company back into profitability, issued 105 retrenchment notices – 16 of which went to Solidarity members – on October 1.
This was after the company allegedly could not place the workers in alternative posts.
The union said 676 employees have been placed in alternative posts within Telkom, with 302 employees opting for voluntary severance packages.
“Should Telkom refuse to retract the notice, we will approach the Labour Court and indicate that Telkom is contravening Section 189 of the Labour Relations Act,” warned Solidarity head of communications Marius Croucamp.