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OUR UNION SAYS - TELSTRA EBA NOT ACCEPTABLE

As predicted Telstra this week walked from talks, issued draft EBAs to staff, and will seek votes from 3 July.
Members from all CEPU Branches and from all unions were polled in the past 2 weeks - and they said NO to the Telstra EBA.
Our Branch result was an overwhelming 80% supporting a NO vote.
Now is the time for members to talk to fellow workers, join CWU TS Branch if not already a member, and vote NO.

TELSTRA EBA - SOME ISSUES

The feedback from members raised a number of issues. These are some:

Pay: Overwhelmingly, the pay rises are insufficient. There is no catch-up to overcome the large CPI increases over the past 2 years. Members have lost purchasing power forever, unless there is a catch-up. In our Branch Members indicated a 15-18% pay rise over 3 years was justified.

Job Family: If you are doing your job to the satisfaction of your bosses - you are meeting expectations. Members therefore expect the full pay rise in that situation. There is NO COST to Telstra as the pay pool (bucket of money) is the same. It is just distributed differently. If Telstra want to reward a few staff with very high pay rises, then that is not a pay pool matter.

Forced Leave: Again this is a matter of very small cost. Yet Telstra want to force staff to take annual leave and Long Service Leave at a time when members are not ready for leave. Annual Leave is a right to be enjoyed at a time when we want 4 weeks off - not 2 weeks because we were forced to take split leave.

Wedge Fears: While there has not been much publicity, members reported concern about the two tier redundancy scheme being introduced. The corporate reshuffle in Purple is being used to introduce a two tier redundancy benefit. (The current 80 weeks and the Telstra Policy (NES Max 13 weeks)).

Telstra Prices: Telstra can afford it. Telstra is a profitable company and just put consumer prices up by 5%. (see below) The real pay cut for staff will increase profits and senior executive bonuses.

Telstra Attitude: At the same time that staff are to be cut by 9% and those staff will be redundant before the EBA kicks in, it expects staff to cop a below par pay rise, without catch-up for the hard work done by staff during Covid.

TELSTRA EBA - WHERE TO NOW

The vote commences on 3 July and closes on 10 July. Telstra will get the result late on 10 July.
YES VOTE: The EBA goes to the FWC for approval. The EBA and pay rises do not start until 1 Oct 2024.
NO VOTE: We will seek further negotiations to address the issues that members want improved. If this does not result in improvements, we may seek protected industrial action, particularly bans. This process begins with a formal vote of members where 50% must vote, and 50% approve a basket of actions. General strike action is not on our radar. There is now an involvement at this stage by the FWC to head off industrial action.
NOTE As the current EBA nominally expires on 1 Oct 24, no protected industrial action can commence before that date.

LATE NEWS - CPI UP

Australian CPI Inflation in May Surprises to the Upside. The annual increase in CPI inflation was 4%, core CPI inflation 4% and trimmed mean inflation 4.4%. This increases the chances of the RBA increasing the official cash rate, which currently sits at 4.35%.
So the Telstra 4% means you are standing still, no gain at all. But more importantly no catch-up for the high CPI during the last EBA.

TELSTRA JOB FAMILY PANIC FOLLOWING 4% CPI

Telstra issued some material to help the YES vote. We have strongly advocated for Job Family members to be guaranteed the full pay rise if they meet expectations (Rating 3). Meeting expectations (ME) means you are doing your job properly!
Telstra issued a convoluted table suggesting indicatively - not promising some staff with ME will get 4% in Year 1 only. Telstra said:
As previously shared, we are unable to finalise a proposed FY24 merit matrix for Job Family employees and consult with you all on this until the performance review process is finalised in early August. However, we have decided to share an indicative FY24 merit matrix (with a % range provided) for our Band 2-4 EA employees. We hope that this will provide some additional reassurance about what our people can expect to receive on 1 October (subject to a `yes' vote). We will be clear that this is an indicative view only and subject to final performance ratings and consultation with the unions. (table omitted)

TELSTRA PRICES

In our survey, many members pointed to the 5% increase in Telstra prices. No 5% flow on to workers, just a margin for extra profit. You would have seen their letters to their customers:

Telstra Bills
...

IS THE PAY OFFER AND ACCEPTABLE?

Is the Telstra offer a fair offer? (from a very profitable company?). Here some comparisons:

Quarter        CPI      CPI	Telstra	Postal	National
	      Quarter  Annual     Inc 	Inc	Wage Case
Oct-Dec 21    1.3%    3.5%
Jan-Mar 22    2.1%    5.1%
Apr-Jun 22    1.8%    6.1%
Jul-Sep 22    1.8%    7.3%	2.50%	6.10%	5.50%
Oct-Dec 22    1.9%    7.8%
Jan-Mar 23    1.4%    7.0%
Apr-Jun 23    0.8%    6.0%
Jul-Sep 23    1.2%    5.4%	3.00%	6.00%	8.60%
Oct-Dec 23    0.6%    4.1%
Jan-Mar 24    1.00    3.6%
Apr-Jun 24     tba    tba
Jul-Sep 24     tba    tba  	4.00%	  tba	3.75%

TELSTRA EBA VOTE - KEY POINTS RE PROCESS

Here some key information about the process: Four agreements are going to ballot.
- Telstra Limited Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027
- Amplitel Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027
- Telstra InfraCo Fixed Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027
- Telstra Retail Stores Enterprise Agreement 2024-2027
The new Telstra Limited EA will also cover Telstra Purple Pty Ltd (TPPL) employees currently covered by the TPPL EA.
Key Dates are:
26 June 2024 to 2 July 2024 Employee Consideration Period
03 July 2024 12:01am AEST Vote opens
10 July 2024 4pm AEST Vote closes
03 July 2024 eligible employees will receive an email from CorpVote with a unique 9 digit Voter Access Code that will be required along with your employee ID. This email will provide you with a link to vote via the internet and a phone number if you would prefer to vote by telephone.

TZV EBA - REPORT

The drafting was completed Friday, and subject to checking by all parties, it will be circulated to members. Watch for Bulletins from the Single Bargaining Unit.

VENTIA REDUNDANCIES

Ventia have advised: Ventia received a letter from Aurizon notifying of their intention to terminate our maintenance contract effective 19 August. The rationale for this cancelation is that Aurizon intends to cease outsourcing the maintenance of that contract and self-perform all the activities Ventia currently undertakes. This contract employs 4 field employees on the Ventia Telco EA and 1 office based salaried role. Ventia intends to commence consultation.
If any member has concerns, please contact us.

VENTIA EBA

Following many months of bargaining, Ventia are currently preparing to ask employees to vote on a proposed Enterprise Bargaining Agreement (EBA). Some of the key outcomes of negotiations include:

• Three-year deal. The former Agreement ran for four years.
• Wage increases of 3.5% pa. The former EBA increases were 1.5% pa former Silcar employees, and 2.5% for others.
• Wage improvements backdated. Backdated to the first full pay period of 2024.
• On-call allowance of $200 per week. This is an improvement on the previous provision of $147pw.
• Height allowance to be increased by 3%. The former Agreement increased the allowance by 5%.
• Private Motor vehicle use increased to 85c per kilometre - up from 78c per kilometre.
• Daily travel allowance increased to $280 for regional areas, $340 in capital cities or $120 where accommodation is provided. Up from $230 regional, $290 capital cities and $90 where accommodation provided.
• Meal allowance increased to $35. This has increased from $30.
• Combined leading hand/ team leader allowance increased to $70.04 - up from $68.
• Proposes a roster system that allows a 21/7 or 10/4 roster but only after consultation and agreement.
• Proposes to allow more employees to become eligible to accumulate 5 weeks annual leave
• Proposes a new store person classification of ST3 which will be aligned to pay level 11.