MEMBERSHIP FEES - NOTE

Invoices for Union dues: If you receive an invoice for your Union dues we will no longer be accepting cheques and money orders as a method of payment after February 2025. This is due to the banks making cheque and money order deposits increasingly difficult as they seek to phase them out. Payments may be made by BPAY, credit card, or direct deposit to our Bank Account details will be on your invoice. If choosing direct deposit, please use your Membership number and name as the customer reference. Australia Post can perform direct bank transfers through its Bank@Post service if you do not have internet banking.

VALE GUY ROBINS

We received the sad news that Guy Robins passed away this week. Many members would know Guy, an industrial officer with our NSW Technical Branch for many years, formerly known as the PTTA and later ATEA (Australian Telecommunications Employees Association). He was 77 last December. Funeral Details Creightons Funeral Service website. A wake will be held afterwards at the Central Coast Leagues Club. Time 2:00 pm Friday 24th January 2025. Service at Greenway Chapel & Memorial Gardens 460 Avoca Dr Green Point, NSW

TELSTRA ACCENTURE JOINT VENTURE

This week Telstra announced a proposed new joint venture (JV) with Accenture to "rapidly accelerate data and AI roadmap to further extend the network leadership, improve customer experience, and help its teams operate more efficiently and effectively". We have commenced consultation. The draft proposal will see current staff in this area being employed by the JV. The transfer of business rules will automatically apply meaning that current staff will keep their Telstra conditions. If the JV is terminated, staff will be offered their jobs back in Telstra. If a staff member does not wish to transfer to the JV, they may opt for redundancy. Further details are being sought from Telstra.

NBN EBA PAY OFFER

We met with NBN again on Thursday. We made it very clear that the pay offer (4%, 4%, 3.4%) is not acceptable, and that CEPU would advocate a "NO" vote if NBN went to a Ballot. We also are seeking an explanation of their complex clauses about breaks and recovery during and after overtime. The next pay rise is not due until 28 April this year.

NBN SOD/EOD CASE

We have filed our case with the court seeking payment for all work from the start of day to end of day, including any log in time at the start of day. We seek the payment at overtime rates (not single time) for any time in excess of normal hours. NBN is now required to file a defence. The case is set down for conciliation after filings, on 31 March 2025. The Court will have a Compliance check on 17 March 2025.

DRIVER SAFETY

Telstra have advised that the Driver Safety Standard of Telstra's HSWE Management system provides guidelines for managing fatigue when driving. Under these guidelines, a driver should avoid driving for more than 10 hours in any one day. This does not specifically address our issue where one has to drive for an hour at the end of say an 11 hour day. We will follow up. Your comments would be valuable.

SUPER AT RISK - ACTU

Australians risk losing hundreds of thousands in retirement income under Coalition super proposal The ACTU warns that the current push by Coalition members to cut superannuation will cost the average 30-year-old worker around $165,000 in retirement income. Key Coalition members, including Alex Antic, Matt Canavan and Llew O'Brien, have voiced support for cutting the superannuation guarantee rate from 12 per cent to 9 per cent if the Coalition wins the upcoming election.
The reduction of 3 per cent in compulsory employer-paid superannuation, with the accompanying decline in compounding returns, will mean that the average 30-year-old worker today will lose around $165,000 in retirement income, according to ACTU estimates.
The Coalition members' reported comments raise questions about how far the Coalition will go to undermine the hard-won entitlements of Australian workers. In a Sydney University speech in October last year, Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor stated that the Coalition's ambition included "aligning superannuation with other global retirement schemes like [the United States of America's] 401k."
Australia's superannuation system is consistently ranked one of the best in the world and allows Australians to retire with significantly more retirement income than the mediocre US system provides.
ACTU Assistant Secretary, Joseph Mitchell: "Working Australians can't afford to lose $165,000 or more in retirement income. Super is a workplace right and should be protected, not attacked by out-of-touch politicians.

OPTICAL FIBRE BOOST TO NBN

The ALP this week promised a major commitment to extend Fibre to more homes good news for our members. Here is their announcement.
High speed broadband isn't just 'nice to have' - it's a social and economic necessity. And the last time the Coalition were seeking government, they butchered the NBN rollout. They said they would complete the rollout for $29bn, but blew it out to $58bn.
They bought 60,000km of copper, ditched fibre connections, wrecking its potential. They wasted billions and now Dutton wants to privatise the NBN, which is a risk to Australians. Every Australian family and business deserves access to high speed internet at an affordable price. Only Labor understands the NBN is essential infrastructure, for Australians working from home, running businesses and learning online. That's why we're investing $3bn to finish the NBN and deliver 622,000 new fibre access connections, and ensure 11 million homes have access to gigabit speeds.
Labor created the NBN, and only Labor will finish the NBN, protecting it to ensure it stays in public hands.