Sentech’s claims about the unaffordability of workers’ wage demands are misleading, the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) said on Friday.<\/p>\n
“The statement by Sentech management as released on July 30 seeks to mislead the public about the current state of affairs in a wage dispute prevalent between Sentech management and CWU,” the union’s acting general secretary Thabo Mogalane said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Union members wanted a 10 percent wage increase for the lowest-paid workers, nine percent for middle-income earners, and seven percent for the highest-paid staff.<\/p>\n
They wanted a guaranteed 13th cheque in the current financial year, a housing allowance of R1450 a month, and a moratorium on retrenchments during the wage agreement period.<\/p>\n
Sentech spokesman Sithembele Senti said on Wednesday the CWU’s demands were unaffordable and would negatively affect the business’s sustainability.<\/p>\n
Mogalane said on Friday, the demand for a 13th cheque was not unreasonable because management’s counter-offer of a once-off 10 percent gratuity would cost more than the bonus cheque.<\/p>\n
He said workers made up 53 percent of the company’s wage bill, and management, with 132 people, 47 percent.<\/p>\n
“This means in simple layman’s terms that the managerial structure is top heavy and bloated, as such, constitutes a threat to the sustainability of the business.”<\/p>\n
He said the union rejected Sentech’s proposal of a three-year phase-in or the 13th cheque commencing next year.<\/p>\n
“Our period of an agreement is on a one-year basis, and not a multi-term agreement.”<\/p>\n
First clean audit in a decade for Sentech<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n SABC coming via Sentech satellite<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Sentech confirms new satellite TV service Freevision<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n