CWU withdraws interdict against MTN

Published Aug 31, 2016

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Johannesburg - The Communication Workers’ Union has withdrawn an interdict application against MTN to stop its outsourcing plans, the cellular giant says in a statement.

MTN, SA’s second largest operator after Vodacom, says it is pleased with this move.

The union is demanding, among others, an end to the outsourcing at MTN’s call centres, as well as converting temporary staff into permanent workers after the company said it was planning to outsource some of its call centre facilities to optimise its operations and enhance customer experience.

Earlier this month, MTN announced its plans to outsource some of its call centre facilities and will adopt a hybrid outsource model, which will result in some call centres being outsourced to an experienced third party vendor while others are retained in-house.

Talks broke down last week and the union said and a strike could be a possibility in the next couple of weeks.

Read also:  MTN at union’s mercy

MTN last year endured an eight-week strike after CWU members downed tools in a strike that negatively affected its services. The strike eventually led to the abrupt resignation of then chief executive of local operations, Ahmad Farroukh.

“MTN believes that it has been vindicated by the CWU’s decision to withdraw its interdict application and believes that this decision further affirms that MTN has conducted itself in a reasonable manner and had been engaging the employees in in good faith.”

The cellular company says it wants to implement the hybrid model to optimise its operations.

“MTN will continue to maintain an open door policy with the union on the matter, in order to reach an outcome that will benefit all the parties concerned, including our customers,” says chief human resources officer at MTN SA, Nhlanhla Qwabe.

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