OPTUS BELROSE VISIT THIS THURSDAY

I will be visiting Optus at Belrose this Thursday 29 October arriving at 12.30pm. Please look out for the venue - usually in the meeting room. This is for general discussion of recent developments and meeting new members I would also like to meet non members so please advise others.

TZV DISPUTE VOTE ASAP

We urge members who have ballot papers to vote asap. We not only have to get a majority "Yes"vote, we need 50% of the eligible voters to vote.

TZV DISPUTE - COMPULSORY CONCILIATION ENDS

The compulsory conference concluded this week. We have moved to a position whereby we effectively have an "in principle" agreement. The problem now is IRV (the Government Department Industrial Relations Victoria. They will not process the agreement. They say the election is too close! We have not given up, but IRV is a major obstacle.

PROTECTED ACTION BALLOT WHO GETS TO VOTE?

In the TZV dispute, only CWU Support members on our book on a date determined by the AEC can vote.
The procedure is this:
1. We submit your details to the AEC. TZV do not see our list.
2. TZV submit their details of Support staff to the AEC. We do not see the TZV list.
3. The AEC does a matching exercise. They compare both lists.
4. If there is no match (including name, home address) then they exclude the name.
5. We are not notified of any rejection
As a result, there may be multiple reasons that you did not receive a ballot paper.
We have had a significant increase in support members. While new members did not get a ballot paper, they can participate in the industrial action.

EMAILS FROM MARKETING AT PROFESSIONALS - TZV

Members have complained about emails from Marketing of Professionals (not the real estate firm). They cannot help you in any meaningful way. There are a number of reasons
- They have very few, if any, members.
- Their interference only helps the employer, at a time when unity is paramount.
- They have not attended any of the more than 20 bargaining meetings with TZV
- They cannot even apply to take industrial action as they obviously have not been bargaining in good faith.
- All they offer is a plan for a "Memorandum of Understanding". We have already been there.
- Our Committee rejected the TZV MOU proposal because of the conditions attached: no industrial action for 12 months and no backpay.
- We note that their regular fees are almost double our fees.

TELSTRA MORE REDUNDANCIES

Telstra advised that it is proposing organisational changes across Telstra Customer Service, Telstra Business, Strategy & Finance, Telstra Digital Infrastructure and CARL. Telstra advised:
Across the changes announced today, the proposals would result in 13 individual redundancies and 20 role reductions through group redundancy processes. In addition, in Telstra Customer Service, we are proposing to accept up to 115 voluntary redundancies from our Australia-based frontline agents. The proposed changes also include the creation of 17 new roles.
Overall, the proposals therefore involve up to 148 redundancies or role reductions across Australia, alongside the creation of 17 new roles. These remain proposals only and no final decisions have been made.
If you have any concerns, please contact us.

TELSTRA - SECURITY OF CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE ACT 2018 (SOCI)

Telstra has announced to relevant employees that it is commencing consultation on proposed screening and training requirements for employees identified as critical workers in accordance with our obligations under the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018 (SOCI). This new policy has raised a number of questions and concerns.
One of the obvious questions is job security. There are more, dealing with privacy, accurateness, subjectiveness and equality.
We are meeting with Telstra on Monday to follow up. More next week.

TELSTRA TRAVEL ALLOWANCE

Telstra has refreshed the Travel Cost Allowance (TCA) policy, to simplify understanding and refresh allowance rates with increases to all but one category. The changes have created a number of concerns. We will meet with Telstra to seek explanations. Below is a summary of the 4 key changes:
- For capital cities the increase is between $29 - $84 based on location. For standard country centres the increase is $0.81. The most significant change is the introduction of a new high-cost location framework and a new Remote Area Camping Allowance for eligible employees.
- The new location framework means we are expanding the TA location list from 11 to 128. This means when travelling to high-cost country locations a specific rate can now be claimed. For high-cost country locations there is a rate increase of at least $28 with an average increase of $75 per day.
- The TA rate decreasing is the camping rate as no accommodation component can be claimed. This means the camping rate will drop by $34.43 from $192.33 to $157.90 per day.
- To support employees who travel in areas were commercial accommodation is not available and where camping is the only viable option, we are introducing a new Remote Area Camping Allowance. The new Remote Area Camping Allowance is being introduced as a nightly allowance for eligible employees who travel to remote locations and utilise camping where commercial accommodation is not available. This allowance will be paid at a rate of $223 per night (inclusive of superannuation and applicable taxation.