Johannesburg - South African based telecommunications company, MTN has stated on Wednesday that they had sent a proposal to the Communication Workers Union (CWU) requesting to meet with an independent arbitrator.
“We told the union that having independent arbitration is needed because when we meet together we just go in circles and nothing is resolved,” MTN South Africa’s chief executive of human resources Themba Nyathi said in a statement.
Nyathi said the offer they were offering was one percent less than what the union was asking for.
“MTN believes there is more to it, and maybe they will be able to tell the independent person what the real issues are,” he said.
MTN had offered employees an eight percent wage increase, but unhappy employees have asked for a nine percent salary increase.
Nyathi said the company was not impressed by the violent protest action that had been taking place outside their head office in Fairlands, Johannesburg.
“The striking employees have been blocking the entrance and smashing cars which is what made people call the police, to the point where rubber bullets were fired last week,” he said.
The strike, said Nyathi, has affected employees because of the no work no pay policy, and as a result we wanted to resolve the issue as soon as possible. Reflecting on the economic repercussions of the strike, he said: “These are business issues and peoples lives are being turned around, they have bills to pay and mouths to feed.”
This call for an arbitration process followed the wage offer that MTN submitted to CWU on Monday, after an ongoing strike by employees.
ANA