THE BLOG IS BACK!

Comrades,

We wish to report that after being suspended for allegedly being "spam" (and we do wonder what role some people with vested interests might have played in reporting this blog as such), our blog is back.

Much has transpired in the last days and we will be expanding this post to cover those updates.

LONG LIVE THE SPIRIT OF NON-SURRENDER, LONG LIVE!

Union Network International condemns Vodacom arrests

UNI condemns Vodacom’s input to the arrest of Reginald Mokitlane

On July 17 2007, Reginald Mokitlane, a Vodacom worker and a member of UNI affiliate, Communication Workers Union of South Africa (CWU) was arrested by police under the instruction of a Risk Management official from Vodacom.

Reginald was going home after the peaceful picketing of Vodacom which he, along with several hundred workers has done since the strike began on July 2nd to demand recognition for their union.

The strike has been perhaps the most peaceful strike in the recent history of South Africa. No damages to persons or property have been reported.

Reginald Mokitlane was leaving the protest site when the car he was riding in was stopped by Inspector Van Niekerk of the South African Police Service. A Risk Management official from Vodacom approached the car and pointed at Mokitlane and the Inspector ordered Mokitlane to get out of the car.

The police explained to other strikers that they had a warrant for the arrest of Mokitlane for picketing outside of the demarcated area, and therefore being in contempt of a court order enforcing picketing rules. According to Vodacom, Mokitlane had crossed an imaginary line between two stop signs. However, an arrest warrant was not shown.

A group of strikers followed the police to the Midrand Police Station, wanting to clarify the situation since police insisted that there was no arrest while asserting they had an arrest warrant. At the police station, workers were notified of another ten arrest warrants.

The arrest warrants come as workers enter the third week of a strike that has been characterized by being entirely peaceful on the union side. Workers were preparing to escalate pressure on Vodacom by marching to offices in the busy central business district of Johannesburg on Wednesday, July 18th. The arrests also come as the company prepares to defend charges that the strike should be declared illegal given the risk of violence and damages to property. Workers have reported company provocateurs infiltrating strikers to insult them, cameramen charging the picket line and even slapping workers. Workers have never responded to these aggressions.

Vodacom is the largest telecommunications company in South Africa, and is 50% owned by Vodafone and 50% owned by the local fixed line provider, Telkom.

Philip Jennings, General Secretary of UNI Global Union said “UNI condemns Vodacom’s actions to victimise union members and order police to make arrests under false pretences. Vodacom are urged to sit down at the table and resolve the issues with the CWU. UNI Global Union and our affiliates will not accept this victimisation and will be raising the matter directly with Vodafone. Vodacom are denying the workers, union recognition and is not acceptable when the majority of workers have demanded union recognition. The CWU have the full support of UNI and our affiliates in their struggles”

NEW MARCH, LETTER FROM THE UK, VIDEO OF OLD MARCH,

Letter to Vodacom CEO Alan Knott-Craig

I have been informed by UNI Global Union of the disgraceful behaviour of Vodacom management in South Africa.
The attitude of Vodacom management towards the CWU and Vodacom workers is totally inexcusable and doesn't comply with ILO Core Labour Standards. I fully support the CWU and the workers in their struggle to get union recognition in Vodacom.
I am aware that the situation in South Africa is escalating and I urge Vodacom management to
immediately stop the anti-union tactics and allow the workers their basic right to have union recognition.
I look forward to hearing that you have changed your stance and that positive steps have been
made to a resolution of this conflict. Furthermore, we also condemn the recent steps to obtain a court order to stop the strike action, instead of talking to the CWU to resolve the issue

Denise McGuire
Connect
www.connectuk.org

THE VODACOM STRIKE

VODACOM WORKERS DEMAND

1. Recognition of our union, CWU

2. Recognition of our Shop Stewards

3. Leave for Representatives to defend us

4. Cease to require the union to not negotiate on our behalf

Vodacom is the #1 telephone company in the country. With 30 million customers, 3 of every 5 South Africans with a mobile phone use Vodacom. The shareholders of the company earned R10,9 billion in profits last year.



Vodacom abuses its employees hiding behind a massive public relations exercise. Vodacom funds sports and other activities to ingratiate itself with the people of South Africa. Journalists are offered up to R100 000 through "Journalism Awards."



Those who create Vodacom's wealth are suffering. For example, according to workers, at Vodacom you are promoted, treated and paid based on your race and gender. Vodacom temporary workers are subjected to inhuman shifts of up to 18 hours. The company makes no provision for night shift workers, who often have no way of getting home safely. Women workers report sexual harassment. Employees have no way of addressing these grievances as they are subjected to a private arbitration process instead of CCMA. The company only follows the resolutions from this process when it suits them.



Vodacom's workers have been subjected to a campaign of terror for wanting a union. The CWU is a banned organization. Every week, members are called for "disciplinary hearings," where they are threatened, intimidated and/or disciplined in exaggerated ways, up to and including dismissal. Vodacom fines workers who join CWU through deducting from their pay dues for another union that they are not members of. Managers are offered economic incentives if they can keep union numbers below 10%.



A threshold of representativity can never be reached at Vodacom. Even if 100% of employees are recruited, Vodacom will continue to refuse to recognise CWU. The company does not acknowledge stop orders from employees that join the union and refuses to deduct dues from them. That is how they can claim that CWU has a low number of paid up members. Whenever the union achieves 30%, the company moves the goalpost by absorbing subsidiaries, hiring more permanent staff and inflating the numbers of staff. They have included temporary workers, flexi-staff and even interns in their count. They insist that all employees, from sweeper to CEO, must be counted.



Vodacom must be forced to respect the rights of workers and stop playing games. While CWU membership continues to grow every day, the company's extremist position has left workers no choice but to embark on a strike for recognition. The strike has gone on since July 2nd, and workers have been locked out. Vodacom workers should not stand alone against this attack. It is an attack against the laws of the Republic of South Africa and the historic conquests of the South African working class, orchestrated from the boardrooms of Vodafone UK.

Solidarity from the UK and the Vodalie of the day...

A MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY FROM THE UK

We are writing to you from Vodafone UK , via our trade union, Connect. We are fighting for recognition here too and believe we are on the verge of an independent voice at work in part of the UK operation.

We have heard about your struggle and are writing to express our support and solidarity. We are with you in spirit and send our best wishes to our South African colleagues. Please stay strong and remember that your fellow Vodafone employees around the world are thinking of you.

Connect Vodafone branch.

Read Connect's Blog here

VIVA CONNECT, VIVA!
LONG LIVE THE UNITED VODAWORKERS OF THE WORLD, LONG LIVE!

Vodalie of the day #3

CWU only represents (insert your number here) per cent of employees at Vodacom.

On MSN news of July 3rd, Vodacom claims the union represents less than 10% of its staff.

On the Mail & Guardian online on the 4th, Field said the company's records show that less than 15% (645) of its staff belong to the CWU.

Maybe because Ms. Field has also been humiliated by being offered an economic bonus for keeping union numbers below 10%, on the 6th of July in News24 Field returns to 432 members, "less than 10%". Lots of luck, Dot! If you are willing to grovel for money like this, you deserve it!

THE TRUTH

CWU represents the majority of employees at Vodacom. Vodacom has refused to recognise signed forms of members, deducted dues for the wrong union, intimidated those who have expressed interest in the union, counted temporary workers (and even interns!) as permanent staff, dismissed members for their union activities and offered economic incentives and promotions for people to resign and fight the union. The only thing they have accomplished is a distortion of the numbers. Until recently, they could continue to claim with impunity that CWU represented less than 10%. Now, as an audit has begun, they occasionally slip and say 15%. Tomorrow we will be 20%, the day after 25% and so on.

Their final offer, which is one of the reasons negotiations broke down, was to request a new, higher threshold of 50%. Now, they have fallen back to "the 1999 agreement" and 30%, which they have refused to comply with or implement. Best of luck with your lockout! It's nice to know you are reduced to fight for something that we want.

Pictures & letter from depths of Vodahell

YOU CALL THAT AN INTERDICT?

The day began with CWU members driving around the Johannesburg area with placards on their cars, attracting the attention of hundreds of workers that were beginning their day.
Workers marched down the streets of "Voda Valley" in Midrand. Simultaneous protests occurred in Cape Town and Port Elizabeth.The demonstration today was a landmark for three reasons. It is the first labour demonstration in the area near Vodacom headquarters, where many of the new IT and communications companies have facilities. It is also the first time mobile communication workers engage in a recognition strike in the history of Africa. It is also one of the few times workers have struck for recognition (as opposed to wages and conditions) in recent memory in South Africa. Workers see the union as a tool to address serious problems in the workplace. For example, despite being started at the end of the era of minority rule Apartheid, Vodacom has implemented policies that have led to a workplace where positions of power are overwhelmingly reserved for single race and a single gender.

A group of managers observing from the gates of Vodacom. Judging purely by results, Vodacom has been a reluctant participant in the transformation of South African society.

Joe Chauke, President of the Communication Workers Union, on the right and Aubrey Tshabalala, Vodacom call center worker and CWU leader (left) address workers.

Greetings comrades,

It is appropriate and necessary to commend and thank those comrades who are currently engaged in protest action across the country. These are Vodacom employees who feel that enough is enough.

One worker that opts for the last resort of strike action is one to many. The fact that there are more than that by some number – who are partaking in the action aimed at contradicting Vodacom’s public claims that all is well – indicates that there is unhappiness with the way in which Vodacom treats its employees.

It is laughable that the communication officer for Vodacom, Dot Field, seeks to convey a message to the public that there are no incidents of intimidation, victimization, favoritism or disregard for fundamental worker rights that take place within its workplaces. According to her media statements there is not enough support for the claims that there is unfairness in the workplace to deem it necessary for Vodacom to even talk to this group of employees.

Vodacom hides behind an outdated agreement that is almost as old as the company to deny workers their basic rights.

By refusing to recognize a union to which its employees belong, the company is in effect saying that it refuses to recognize its employees that belong to those unions. Unless the company can show that it has a history of dealing fairly with individuals it cannot claim to be a fair employer. It knows it has no such track record. Instead it continually seeks new ways to take punitive action against its employees by dragging them into disciplinary hearings for transgressions that workers had no idea even existed. There these employees are dismissed at will without having adequate representation.

The use of these punitive measures displays keenness by Vodacom’s management to rule its workers with intimidation and fear. The workers that have decided to partake in strike action have indicated their willingness to stand opposed against workplace injustice and inequality. They stand not only for themselves but for all employees at Vodacom that are affected by the arrogance of its management.

For this they should be commended for they have taken the first steps in a journey to liberate workers at Vodacom from the oppressive grip of their employer.

To these workers we say – We salute you.

A Luta Continua!

Images from the Strike

Comrade Vodacom Worker:

You are aware that the struggle for recognition of CWU that started some time ago. Thanks to the legal road we have taken, we can now engage in a legal strike, which we believe is the best way to gain our rights. A labour court has upheld our certificate.

Note that the right to strike is a constitutional right, which you were born with. You cannot sign it away, any more than you could sign away your right to live and breathe. Don't be misled by management tricks. Remember we are fighting a company that every day is more controlled by the British company Vodafone. They are known all over the world for their union bashing.

It is essential that all Vodacom workers participate in the marches on Wednesday, July 4th. It is important for the government to realise what kind of company Vodacom is. It is shocking that a company that began operations in 1994 has made no progress towards transformation. The top levels of the company continue to be dominated by one racial group, by one gender. Thus previously disadvantaged workers are deprived of the opportunity to access the skills, positions and benefits of the top levels.

Let us not fool ourselves. No one has ever advanced in this country through being docile and obedient to those in power. It is only through struggle that workers have advanced in South Africa.

We have a solution to these problems that will make Vodacom a stronger company. Let us negotiate an end to salary discrepancies, and a system of payment and promotions that rewards merit and promotes transformation.

CWU is a national, non-racial union affiliated to Cosatu, committed to fight for workers rights. It is the largest union in the industry, and is considering applying for a secondary strike so that workers in other companies can join us. But no one will do for you what you will not do for yourself. This is why we need to be out in numbers.

JOIN THE MARCHES ON JULY 4!

VODAWORLD, Midrand - 9h00, Shell Garage

PIER PLACE, Cape Town - 11h00 Herengracht

OTHER LOCATIONS AND TIMES TO BE ANNOUNCED

VODACOM STRIKE IS ON

On July 2nd of 2007, Vodacom workers have an appointment with history. It will be the first time that workers in a mobile phone company embark on a full-blown strike. Not only that, but they will be helping to write the future of South Africa.

Vodacom is seemingly trying to make itself a prime representative of a brand of capitalism that seeks subvert the principles of the republic for which so many suffered so much for so long. They are have been fighting the right of workers to join unions, to collectively bargain, and to strike. This backward mentality is what we strike against at Vodacom.

When Vodacom offered us negotiations, we participated in good faith. We were shocked when the company asked the union to sign away the right to defend workers as a condition for any agreement. They know full well that we cannot accept to become a passive organisation that looks the other way when its members are suffering. We offered Vodacom our outstretched hand and they chose to spit on it.

We have seen intense and bitter fights. We do not want or like them. But we also know how to fight for what is right. We owe it to those who came before us and sacrificed so much for the rights that Vodacom would deny us.

We will not allow the workplace where we spend so much of our lives to be ruled by a privileged minority. We do not want a system where the only way to advance is to submit unconditionally to the whims of management. We do not want promotions, wage increases, and opportunities to participate in economic empowerment to depend on grovelling at the feet of anyone. We do not want the advancement of those who were historically disadvantaged to be based on who you know and how you behave to your superiors rather than your actual skills and your ability to do your job.

We want our constitutional rights. We want dialogue in the workplace. We want a fair and transparent system for payment and promotions that helps erase racism and rewards merit. We want to truly democratise telecommunications. We want quality customer care instead being used as a wall that customers smash into.

That is why we united as workers under the umbrella of Cwu, to challenge the Vodacom system of oppression. This is why they created a consultative, allegedly democratic body that they themselves keep under check, and that will never discuss issues such as how the profits that we all create should be distributed.

To those who did not settle for consultations but demanded actual dialogue and negotiations, they responded dirty tactics. They have tried to make those that disagreed into outcasts, always being watched for a tiny mistake in order to take away their way to make a living. They have failed spectacularly where our numbers are too big to maintain this regime.

Because we refused to kneel before those in power we have been treated as a banned organisation. Even those who are not working for the company are asked to cover the letters C W U before entering company premises. We know that managers have been offered economic rewards through their KPAs for maintaining our organisation weak and punished if they allow us to grow. They have even hired specialists in destroying unions.

They have misspent hundreds of thousands of Rand that we helped create with our work trying to overcome the union. They have failed time and again. They have dangled promotions in front of our leaders. They have offered us wage increases and maternity benefits (and even BEE, which they later retracted) the way someone offers a morsel to a dog that barks.

They have done the unthinkable to preserve their image, to keep us from striking and exposing their subversive attacks on the rights enshrined in the constitution of the new republic. Now it is time for us to take the streets to show the whole country their shameful behaviour.

It is up to us to tear out the re-sprout of a new system of oppression that is taking root in our workplaces. We can stop those who would undermine the democratic revolution of South Africa. We will stop Vodacom and other companies if they seek to create a new system of minority rule through the workplace.

We will show the world that there is a cure for this plague of ruthless capitalism that is spreading throughout the world. It is called worker-controlled unionism.

Long live the united workers of Vodacom!

Viva CWU, Viva!

Viva COSATU, Viva!

Phambile!