Communications Workers are finding their collective voice in Vodacom

Communications workers are finding their collective voice February 23, 2007In an action that unions have condemned as both illegal and stupid, Vodacom yesterday locked out workers from its Service Park centre in Sandton because they were wearing Communication Workers' Union (CWU) T-shirts. Most of 80 workers returning by bus from a company "team building exercise" at Muldersdrift were wearing their union shirts when they arrived. According to CWU shop stewards Aubrey Tshabalala and Gary van Niekerk, the workers were ordered to leave as they stepped off two buses. Security personnel were brought in and the doors of the premises were locked. "It looked like the whole management came down. They said we were causing unpleasant scenes and so we had to leave," says Tshabalala. "There was no disturbance, no protest. But more securities arrived, and some were armed." The workers sent for Van Niekerk, who arrived as they gathered at the boom. Some workers left, while others summoned help from union headquarters, which have been conducting a long-running dispute with Vodacom. For the CWU organisers, this was proof that Vodacom management is determined to crush the union. "Their action was illegal, but the illegality was exceeded only by the sheer stupidity," says CWU spokesperson Mfanafuthi Sithebe. The action has inflamed an already tense situation and there were talks yesterday among trade union investment firms about raising awkward questions at the Vodacom annual general meeting next month. However, some CWU organisers think the latest action by Vodacom could provide a boost to union membership. Many Vodacom workers who are not CWU members have already been angered by comments reportedly made by Vodacom managing director Shameel Aziz-Jacoob. Minutes of a meeting held last August, in which Aziz-Jacoob expressed concern about growing union influence at Service Park, were leaked. The meeting was of the customer care division of the National Consultative Committee, established by Vodacom as an alternative to trade unions. Following Aziz-Jacoob's expressions of concern, the meeting resolved that the committee would "embark on educating the staff on the benefits of engaging with their reps instead of a union" as part of an "awareness campaign". Union members were enraged and decisions were made to redouble recruitment. The international Trade Union Solidarity Network provided funds for a dedicated organiser, and when membership topped 750 the union demanded recognition.
top.DisplayAds('SquarLAV',17,553);

The company refused because the CWU had not reached 30 percent of the workforce - the minimum threshold for recognition. However, no figures were available on the exact size of the workforce, so the matter went to the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration. Sithebe says: "There, finally, we got an official figure of 4 500, so we know exactly what to aim for." However, there have been increasing allegations of victimisation and of union stop order applications not being processed. Several workers say they have been told by supervisors that union membership will be "harmful" to their careers. It was against this background that the CWU launched a recruitment campaign last month to declare a dispute with Vodacom. Strike committees were established around the country. Yesterday the union claimed that such committees existed in every centre except Port Elizabeth. The Port Elizabeth strike committee was scheduled to be in place by this morning, when the CWU planned to issue a 48-hour notice of possible strike action to Vodacom. In preparation for this announcement, contact was made with communications workers' unions in Lesotho, Zambia and Tanzania, where Vodacom/Vodaphone operates. On Wednesday, union representatives from these countries met in Johannesburg with their CWU counterparts to discuss problems and agree on possible action. "Communication workers in these countries have similar problems to those we have, regarding both union recognition and conditions of work, so we are looking at combined action," says SithebeThe core of the dispute is recognition, which the unions see as essential to the protection of jobs and conditions and the promotion of skills training. Sithebe says: "We want to stress the skills aspect. Firms in the communications sector have made vast profits, but have not provided adequate training. Now we are faced with a great skills shortage and part of the reason for that is that we in the unions have not been strong enough." If the regional communications unions have anything to do with it, this situation is about to change.

CWU set for Vodacom Strike

[ Johannesburg, 21 February 2007 ] - Vodacom will be served with a 48-hours strike notice this week, says the Communication Workers Union (CWU).The action was sparked by a dispute in which the union accused Vodacom of refusing to recognise it as a representative labour organisation within the company and denying it its organisational rights.

Vodacom has rubbished the CWU's claims, saying the union has insufficient representation in the company to be recognised as a representative body.Telkom, where the union claims to have 9 000 members, and other companies that are associated with Vodacom, will also receive the notice, in a bid to mobilise a sympathy strike, the union says.“The strike is set to go,” says CWU spokesman Mfanafuthi Sithebe.Sithebe says the organisation has galvanised support from its affiliates, including the Congress of South African Trade Unions, to stage sympathy protests across the country against “unfair treatment of workers in the telecommunications sector”.He adds all of its 1 200 members at Vodacom will down tools. However, he did not say how many workers countrywide are expected to be involved in the mass action. “We expect a major turnout,” he says.Vodacom has, in the past, stated that due to the limited number of CWU members inside the company, there would be little impact on its operations should a protest action take place.The strike comes after talks between Vodacom and the CWU, at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA), deadlocked earlier this month.The CCMA has issued the union a strike certificate, allowing it to embark on protected industrial action.Related stories: Strike hovers over Vodacom CWU locks horns with telecoms sector Vodacom rejects union's claims Vodacom faces CCMA

Please check if membership on payslips - if not deducted contact Mfanafuthi

Comrades

Please check your pay slips and confirm membership deductions with Mrs. A Bhezu: membership@cwu.org.za or mfanafuthis@cwu.org.za - for the benefits of non members we have attached the membership form, brief notes and the memo to all CWU Provincial offices.

In the meantime we will include you in the COSATU mailing list. Should you encounter any problem or require more information, please do not hesitate to contact the office of the writer, Mfanafuthi

The details of the planned Industrial action will be communicated to you not later than Friday

Regards,


Mfanafuthi Sithebe
Head of Communications
Tel: +27(0)118388188
Fax: +27 (0)118385962/8727
Mobile: +27 (0)832089643
Mail: mfanafuthis@cwu.org.za

Illegal Lock out

Comrades

The union is disturbed by the illegal lock out of CWU members at Vodacom, Vodaworld. We have not yet sanctioned any action at Vodacom.

We kindly request our members not to allow the dark forces, intransigent and myopic management to confuse our planned mass action against Vodacom – our members must remain disciplined and wait for the President of the union to give clear instructions.
Regards,


Mfanafuthi Sithebe
Head of Communications
Tel: +27 (0)118388188
Fax: 27 (0)118385962/8727
Mobile: +27 0832089643
Mail: mfanafuthis@cwu.org.za

Strike hovers over Vodacom

Johannesburg, 12 February 2007 ] - Vodacom faces strike action after deadlocked talks with the Communications Workers Union (CWU) at the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA).The CCMA has issued a certificate giving the union the right to embark on a protected industrial action.This follows a dispute in which the union accused Vodacom of refusing to recognise the body as a representative labour organisation within the company and denying it its organisational rights.

CWU spokesman Mfanafuthi Sithebe says the union is on a “vigorous recruitment campaign” at Vodacom's premises for its planned strike action.He adds details of the strike action will be made public once all stakeholders have been consulted.“We will explore a legal opinion and consult Cosatu, alliance partners and other unions in Africa – in order to implement phase two of the programme [mass strike action] against workers' abuse by mobile operators in SA and the entire Africa.”On Thursday, CWU staged a picket outside the CCMA offices, in which 20 members of an expected 2 000 participated. The union blamed this on poor communication on its behalf as well as sabotage by Vodacom.On Friday, the union alleged Vodacom had issued written warnings to staff members who arrived at work wearing union-branded T-shirts. Vodacom rubbished these claims as "unsubstantiated and untruthful". The union has since backed down.

VIVA CWU!!