Thousands of Telkom employees appealed to the competition authorities on Tuesday to take their job security into account before penalising their employer, trade union Solidarity said.
The Competition Commission has asked the Competition Tribunal to find Telkom guilty of excessive pricing and market abuse. The trade union asked the commission to take heed of the pleas of more than 3 500 Telkom employees and their families, more than 17 000 people, before announcing the fine.
A delegation of Telkom employees presented the written pleas to the commission. “It would be a tragedy if thousands of Telkom employees had to suffer the consequences of something they had nothing to do with,” Solidarity spokesman Marius Croucamp said.
A huge fine would deal a serious blow to Telkom’s profitability, possibly forcing large-scale retrenchments, he said. He was also concerned the fine could negatively affect foreign investment.
“Although the trade union believes that justice must be served, it may not be at the expense of Telkom employees’ job security.” — Sapa
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