CWU slams MTN dismissals

MTN HAS RAISED the ire of the Communication Workers Union (CWU) with the recent sacking of nine employees.

An out-of-court settlement gave the union the opportunity to engage with the cellular operator on the retrenchment process.

MTN`s group HR director, Themba Nyathi, says the nine employees in question claimed to be members of the CWU. However, further investigation revealed that this was not the case.

"The simple fact is that these employees misrepresented themselves and lied about being union members. They are not union members and were not union members at that time either. These falsifications resulted in a break down of trust," he explains.

However, CWU national spokesman Matankana Mothapo has a different take on the matter. "The union indicated and submitted proof to MTN that these workers were union members. It is the company that has failed to process the workers` membership forms after they were submitted," he says. Nyathi has rubbished CWU`s claims that MTN failed to process the membership forms. He points out that not only would refusal be illegal, but that such actions would contradict the way the company has engaged with the union in the past.

"The claims are ridiculous. How can we be anti-unionist with Cyril Ramaphosa [former trade union leader] as our chairman? MTN has been a financial supporter of the union and I have personally invited the union to campaign among our workforce. They have never taken the opportunity and frankly, when they do engage with our workers, they tend to give bad advice. These are organisational rights which we offer CWU, despite the organisation not even coming close to the minimum threshold required for us to recognise them," he says.

CWU also points to Ramaphosa  as the company`s "progressive force" - asking that he intervene in the matter personally. In the meantime it says it will not take the dismissals lying down and has committed to "engage MTN in terms of the legislative process at its disposal.