MTN has been ordered to reinstate nine employees dismissed in September 2010, the Communication Workers Union (CWU) said on Friday.

The cellphone operator was also ordered to pay 12 months’ compensation, the union said following the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation & Arbitration’s order.

“The company had summarily dismissed the nine workers because it claimed that they had misled the company into believing that they were members of the CWU, even though they were not and that they subsequently benefited fraudulently in wages paid to them in April, May, and June 2010.”

The company “blacklisted” the workers, preventing them from finding other work in the industry.

The CWU challenged the dismissal, and the commission ordered on Monday that all but two, who no longer wanted to work for MTN, should be reinstated.

MTN could not immediately comment on the case.

Meanwhile, the CWU also said it had reached an agreement with signal distributor Sentech over wages.

“The annual salary adjustment is to be 10% of the basic salary with effect from 1 July 2012,” it said in a statement.

Workers would receive a monthly housing allowance of R825 from July 2012. This would increase to R1 000 from January next year.

There would be no retrenchments until June next year. — Sapa