Low pay, insufficient weekend remuneration and a lack of transport money are key reasons for why MTN staff say they have gone on strike this week.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, hundreds of MTN staff from the company\u2019s call centres and service branches voiced their displeasure at Africa\u2019s biggest telecoms company outside its Johannesburg head office.<\/p>\n
The Communications Workers\u2019 Union (CWU) organised the strike and publicly took a swipe at MTN on Wednesday in front of picketing staff.<\/p>\n
The CWU handed a memorandum to MTN CEO Ahmad Faroukh calling for a 10% pay rise and bonus pay of 16% of their annual salaries, doing away with \u201cunfair\u201d labour practices and labour brokers, and implementing a task team to determine which workers have been short-changed by salary adjustments.<\/p>\n
The CWU has given MTN seven days to respond.<\/p>\n
Two striking MTN SA call centre staff, who wanted to remain anonymous, spoke to Fin24 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Clad in red CWU T-shirts, they explained why they decided to join the strike.<\/p>\n
“It’s because they gave us 4% bonus and we are not used to that,\u201d said one staff member who explained that they received higher bonus pay previously.<\/p>\n
“We are not used to that and it was not even explained before. They only started telling us this year that we supposed to get 4% bonus due to the fact that we did not perform as MTN SA,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
“Only MTN Group performed and they were the ones who got the bonus actually,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The staff member also maintained that the company \u201cis performing\u201d and that if MTN Group gets bonuses, then MTN SA workers should also \u201cget bonuses\u201d.<\/p>\n
“And the group does not even work. We are the ones who are working hard here. They got a bonus because we are working here,” the staff member told Fin24.<\/p>\n
Another sticking point is that of night and weekend hours worked as the workers claim they don\u2019t get higher pay for working during these off-peak periods.<\/p>\n
“We work night shifts but they don’t pay us. We work weekends, Sundays they don’t pay us enough,\u201d one staff member told Fin24.<\/p>\n
“They don’t pay anything for the transport,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
The other staff member also expressed the same concerns about weekend and public holiday work.<\/p>\n
“We don’t get paid for public holidays; we don’t get paid for Sundays. Even shift allowance after hours. They always short pay us. Now we are tired of MTN, that’s why we are here,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Being part of a union is a new experience for these two workers as they told Fin24 that they only joined CWU eight months ago. The pair also said that they were not part of a union before and that they joined CWU to cover and protect themselves.<\/p>\n
“Because if you strike and it’s not allowed, they (MTN) can fire you. So at least now we have a letter, a certificate from CCMA – we are allowed to do what we are doing.<\/p>\n
“We are unshaken about anything from MTN. We’ve had enough now from MTN,\u201d said the staff member.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, MTN\u2019s head of human resources Themba Nyathi told Fin24 that the CWU is not a recognised union by the telecoms company as the union needs 30% representativity at MTN.<\/p>\n
“They only have plus minus 17% representation,” Nyathi told Fin24 on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
MTN\u2019s stance<\/strong><\/p>\n On Sunday, MTN released a press statement in which it said it had been engaging with its employees on reviewing its bonus model and looking at a possible guaranteed thirteenth cheque, returning canteen subsidies, rethinking its cellphone allowances and introducing a reward and recognition programme dubbed \u2018MTN Shine\u2019.<\/p>\n MTN also said that claims by CWU that the company had historically given its staff a 30% bonus are not true.<\/p>\n In addition, MTN said that Sundays and public holidays are paid as per basic conditions of the Employment Act.<\/p>\n The company further noted that it does not have \u201ctemporary staff, or labour brokers as such, as claimed by the union\u201d and that its operational services are outsourced.<\/p>\n