TELSTRA EA 2015
The CWU and other Telstra unions (the CPSU and Professionals Australia) met with Telstra on the 12 May, for the opening of enterprise bargaining negotiations.
This was really a preliminary meeting concerned largely with technical matters such as the scheduling of meetings over the bargaining period and the general conduct of discussions.
Neither Telstra nor the unions presented a full “log” of claims at the meeting. However we did present a high level overview of the key issues we wanted discussed, as did Telstra.
Confirming redundancy entitlements.
The CWU indicated that the continuation of the current Enterprise Agreement (EA) redundancy entitlement of 80+ weeks was a priority for our members. This was supported by the other unions.
We asked Telstra for an early indication of their position on this issue and requested that they respond at the next negotiating meeting on Thursday 14 May. Telstra has agreed to do so.
Other “top line” issues we identified on the basis of membership feedback were:
- Leave entitlements
- Performance management and assessment
- Banding
- Availability of RDOs
- Job security, including outsourcing and offshoring.
Availability of flexible working arrangements and classification/banding issues were also identified by the unions as areas of membership concern.
What does Telstra want?
Telstra also identified a range of issues – some major, some minor – which it wants dealt with in this round of bargaining.
Minor issues include such “housekeeping” matters are reintroducing numbering of EA clauses to which all the unions agreed.
The larger issues flagged by Telstra were:
- Relevance of the current range of Workstream job descriptions. Telstra wants to see whether the number of JDs across a band can be reduced, especially in the technical areas.
- Reassignment and redeployment procedures.
- Emergency duty and its relation to other payments for work outside ordinary hours (overtime, on-call etc).
Obviously these issues are central ones for CWU members. At this early stage, however, there has been no detailed discussion of them.
These questions will be reported on to members once discussion of them is underway.
Union claims.
The CWU and other unions are intending to finalise their formal “log” of claims on Telstra by next week.
The CWU has already received a lot of feedback from members on their priories for this round of bargaining, including through surveys conducted by state branches.
If you have not had a chance to have your say on the “log” you can still do so at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NL6WTTG
Keep informed.
You can follow the progress of these negotiations and keep informed of all developments through posts on the national website. Go to www.cwu.org.au and click on the special Enterprise Bargaining link.
TELSTRA REDUNDANCY ENTITLEMENTS: AGAIN!
In the run up to the start of EA negotiations, CWU national officials have issued a statement regarding the Telstra redundancy entitlements. It can be found on the national website at www.cwu.org.au.
Telstra members are urged to take the time to read this statement. It addresses the misinformation on this issue that is being spread within the union during the run-up to the coming union elections.
Members in some areas are clearly being encouraged to believe that their redundancy entitlements have been put at risk by the recent award modernisation process.
This is simply not true.
The new modern Telstra award does not determine your redundancy benefits – your Enterprise Agreement does. And that agreement can’t change unless you and other Telstra employees vote for such a change.
How likely is that?
Stronger award protections.
What the modern award actually does is create a minimum “safety net” entitlement to underpin bargaining– a much stronger one, in fact, than existed before.
The old Telstra awards have never had any redundancy payout – zero. Now you have 40 weeks. How does this make you worse off or more at risk?
What’s more, the maximum payout available under all other private sector modern awards is 16 weeks, which is what Telstra originally wanted. The CWU has done very well in this area compared to other unions.
You can see this for yourself by going to the Fair Work Commission website at www.fwc.gov.au/awards-and-agreements/awards/find-award/modern-awards-list.
But the main thing to remember is that none of this reduces your EA-based entitlement. That remains protected by the EA and by you, the union members. It can’t be changed by a few union officials – only by Telstra employees.
An early answer.
Your EA redundancy payout has not in fact been put at risk. But to set members’ minds at rest, your EA bargaining team will be seeking formal agreement from Telstra on this issue early in the negotiations.
In the meantime, members wanting further clarification of the facts can contact the national office at cwu@cwu.org.au.
PLEBISCITE BALLOT
CWU members should by now have received a ballot paper for an internal union membership vote (plebiscite).
The issue you are being asked to vote on concerns the rules of your union, the CWU, which is the Communications Division of the larger CEPU.
The other two divisions of our larger union are the Electrical and Plumbing Divisions.
Under our current Communications Division rules, the CWU can only merge with another section of the larger CEPU if a majority of all CWU members agree to do so. If they did agree, the whole division would then merge.
Under the proposed rule change, individual CWU branches could decide to merge with another section of the CWU if their Branch Committee of Management agrees to do so.
The arguments for and against this proposed change should have come with your ballot paper. Please read and consider them carefully.
This question might seem rather technical, but the ballot result will have a major impact on the way your union operates and on how effective it is in representing you.
If you have not received a ballot paper or if you have damaged your paper you should contact the returning officer for the ballot – Bernard Stabb 0417 588 121
DIRECTORY ASSISTANCE REST BREAKS: CWU NOTIFIES DISPUTE
The CWU has notified the Fair Work Commission of a dispute with Telstra over changes to rest breaks in Directory Assistance (DA).
Telstra notified the CWU of its proposal to reduce the number of breaks available to workers in this area in March this year. During subsequent meetings we argued that the proposal represented a dramatic reduction in relief from the stress of DA work without any equivalent change in the nature of the work itself.
We also argued that the changes should not proceed without any independent risk assessment of the proposal being conducted. Needless to say, Telstra did not agree to this proposal.
A hearing of the dispute has been set for Friday 15 May. Members will be kept informed of developments.