MTN says it intends to oppose the legal action taken by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) over its call centre outsourcing plans, and is encouraged by the participation of its employees in the ongoing process,

In a statement the mobile operator says it intends to oppose an application for an interdict against it submitted by the CWU.

"The process is still ongoing, and we are encouraged by the participation of our employees thus far," says Nhlanhla Qwabe, Chief Human Resources Officer, MTN South Africa.

In early August the company stated its intention to outsource some of its call centre facilities to optimise operations and enhance customer experience

The company has continued to state that its decision to adopt a hybrid outsource model will result in the retention of some call centre facilities, while others will be outsourced to a third party vendor, and that the process is expected to be completed by September this year.

Responding to the statement, Aubrey Tshabalala, General Secretary of the CWU, said the Union sought the interdict "when we realised MTN was not engaging in good faith".

Tshabalala said the operator had violated a number of standard processes governing consultation with unions, and referred to an agreement the operator had secured with the CWU in July 2015 regarding the conversion of all casual workers into permanent positions. This, he said, has implications in terms of remuneration, benefits etc. because, under that agreement, the workers would have been full time employees of MTN for a year.

According to MTN the matter is currently set down to be heard on 31 August 2016.