TELSTRA- NEW JOB DESCRIPTIONS

Telstra has drafted new Job Descriptions for CFW4, 5 and 7. Our Union has not developed these and will not agree to the JDs as published. For a start, they are too vague and ambiguous. The EBA requires Union approval if they are to be changed. Our Union is meeting soon to consider the JDs and develop responses.
The JD amendments cover more than the Optical Fibre workers. Telstra have put 32 staff on higher duties (possibly) up to 31 July. That looks like an impossible timetable to complete a review of JDs. The JDs cover all CFW staff, not just Optical Fibre staff. Many roles have changed. For example, country staff are being asked to do more new and delegated work which must be recognised.
Meanwhile, the JDs have not changed.

OPTICAL FIBRE CASE OPEN ZOOM HOOK-UP

You are invited to join us on ZOOM to discuss the outcome of the case and to discuss how we will develop a claim seeking permanent upgrades and backpay. The meeting will be at 7.00 PM on MONDAY 3 MARCH
Join the meeting (See email for details)

NBN EBA VOTED UP JUST!

NBN has a very unhappy workforce. NBN has advised that the YES vote for the EBA was 51.35% of those who voted. Some 68.9% of the staff voted. NBN has so far kept secret the numbers who voted. We will seek these and consider any response. In Bulletin 2025/05 our T&S Branch said:
Negotiations were terminated by NBN with several issues unresolved. While there are always matters unresolved, we are disappointed that difficult clauses remain. Given this, we cannot support a YES vote. A successful NO vote would drive us back to negotiations to further improve the benefits. In short, we urge a NO vote.
Members nearly achieved this. While the vote got up, it demonstrated that members matter bargaining power.

TZV MATTERS

We are organising for the Support Staff EBA. Members have provided us with an extensive list of claims. The Ops UCC is meeting this week where a number of issues are to be discussed. We (and the other Unions) are following up the dispute over backpay. And we are looking for workplace delegates to assist with the many issues.

NOKIA DISPUTE

We have not reached any agreement with Nokia. The matter will be conciliated again this Thursday. We continue to press for a return to fortnightly pay.

AI CONCERNS UNI GLOBAL UNION

(Disclosure: I was employed for UNI Global Union for about 5 years. It represents Telecom workers internationally.)
Christy Hoffman, General Secretary of UNI Global Union, will take stage at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos this year to deliver a stark warning to business leaders and policymakers: Without worker participation, emerging technologies like artificial intelligence risk deepening global inequalities and further concentrating power among a small elite.
"In just two years, the AI conversation among many employers has shifted from boosting workers to replacing them all while a handful of companies tighten their grip on the models driving this transformation," Hoffman said, representing millions of union members in 150 countries. "If workers aren't at the table shaping how AI is deployed, it will be an engine for inequality more than for worthwhile innovation. Our democracies, our communities and our economies cannot afford another year without a shift of power to working people to ensure they have a say in the new world of work."
Another key concern highlighted by Hoffman is the growing refusal of social media platforms to take accountability for accurate, safe content across their sites. UNI's affiliates represent both tech employees who work directly for companies like Meta and Alphabet, but also the data supply chain workers who moderate content and train large language models.
She continued:
"The anti-democratic forces of disinformation, violence and grotesque deepfakes are getting stronger and are at the gates and without a professional, well-trained, well-paid army of moderators, augmented by ethical AI they will take over much of what is good about social media. If tech titans won't protect us by investing in these frontline workers, they're essentially inviting this chaos through the door."
Unions, she argues, are needed to counterbalance the weight of tech titans like Musk, Bezos and Zuckerberg who are pushing for rollbacks of regulations and rights in the United States, Europe and beyond.
Hoffman is one of the world's leading experts on decent work in a digital age. She is also one of the few Davos participants representing workers facing day-to-day consequences of new technologies.