Time for a payrise for all Telstra staff
September 24, 2008
We have heard little from Telstra management since last week’s vote count where Wholesale and Service Advantage staff resoundingly rejected management’s flawed non-union proposals.
Could this silence mean management is considering the unions’ invitation to come back to the negotiating table? Stranger things have happened.
Despite management’s aggressive posturing in recent weeks, the unions are genuine in their desire to resume a co-operative relationship based on good faith collective bargaining, and provided Telstra drops the WorkChoices tactics.
Pay – at least 5% now
Its almost a year since you received a payrise, so Telstra unions are calling on the company to pay an immediate increase to all staff of at least five percent as a minimum rise for 2008, no matter what agreement or contract you are on.
While a minimum five percent is higher than the payrise options Telstra HR has put forward so far, we think it’s reasonable and affordable… and it is certainly a lot less than executive increases. A payrise now would recognise the productivity gains hardworking Telstra staff have made. Use comments below to let us know what you think about this proposal.
Your feedback
You have told us you want a union negotiated agreement that:
- covers all staff across the company
- allows for union representation in the workplace, and an effective dispute settlement process with arbitration by the independent umpire
- protects current conditions of employment including redundancy
- provides fair pay and conditions for all staff, including new staff and those currently on AWAs, and includes a choice for existing AWA employees to transfer to the agreement without disadvantage at a time of their choice.
- includes proper regulation of performance pay and performance management systems to prevent unfair treatment
- allows broad salary sacrifice arrangement including vehicles for all employees
- has pay increases which at least cover the cost of living, currently running at over five percent
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30 Responses to “Time for a payrise for all Telstra staff”
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it should be CPI at least
Why is the union asking for 5% pay rise in the negotiation process when the union has been told by it’s members that they want -” pay increases which at least cover the cost of living, currently running at over five percent ” Negotiation usually results in reduction from initial figures tabled. I would feel more confident if the negotiation started slightly over the cost of living/inflation giving room to move in the negotiation process.
Don’t hold your breath for Telstra wanting to start negotiating with the unions. The silence is probably just a ploy to further delay any potential pay increases.
To be honest I would have been happy with the 4.5% if Telstra dealt with staff & Unions with integrity. NOT any more!
5% wage increase to be honest is insufficient …. 5% is only in relation to CPI increases and I have only been receiving 2.5% increases for the last span of the Enterprise Agreement on a company rate of $42,000 which is exceptionally poor considering the more and more demands that are placed on us …
There is nothing contained in current law that prevents or makes it unlawful for Telstra to give us, the ‘valued and respected’ employees a payrise, now. In recent times, shareholders rejected a proposed increase for Sol et al, shareholders views were ignored and the rise was forthcoming. The share price did not make Sol’s projected level by end Jun’08, and he didn’t meet all his KPI’s (key performance indicators) but he and other senior execs got a phenomenal pay rise. Are we so different? No, we are not. We work hard, we, not Sol, make this company work, we deserve a pay increase and we deserve it now.
We would want at least 5% and also keep all of our conditions. Our representatives are ready to bargain in good faith with Telstra. So Telstra management should show some respect to their workforce and get back to the negotiating table.
As for Telstra managements silence, I think the ‘cats got their tongue’ since Phil Burgess departed and his replacements don’t seem up to it in the spruiking stakes.
Or maybe they are in free-fall, they may rise again but it will could be the old ‘dead cat bounce’.
I persnoally feel a 10%-15% pay rise right now would put us where we should be in relationship to what other companies are paying.
I would accept a 5% right now with ongoing EA discussions.
If Telstra really values it employees, as it keeps saying it does, a 5% now ( with no strings attached ) would be well received ( almost deserved) and the return to Telstra in work attitude etc would be repaid several times over.
First, reading the MOA or CRA, many of the items are of benefit to the union members, though I can not appreciate all the items. Union acts as the 3rd party in the negotiation table can gurantee a ‘fair go’, which is an important Australian value. To extend this point further, I believe a concensus can be reached between Telstra and the unions as to MOU and its content, as any other negotiatoion process can. The key attitude is each side should step back a little, then an agreement can be accepted by all parties.
2nd, industrial action should be the last resort. We employees all love Telstra, though we more love to have the payrise and condition kept or enhanced. My gut belief is if company (Telstra) goes well, we can go well. This is the basics. Current problem is Telstra goes well, senior management’s payrise goes well, but our payrise does not go well. Current inflation rate, our domestic and global economies are all in a very difficult time. This is why we speak out.
If an industrial action does go ahead, a Gandhi style is the best option. I don’t think a desruption of Telstra work is a good approach. Instead, we should send our message stronge and straight to Sol, Andea and Mick. Expressing our concern strongly. The dot point message is to be signed by union member staff or other staff concerned. We should have a concret data to back us up in the message. Any demand should sound, logical and fair, can not be pointless or based on non-ground.
3rd, I believe it is a fair demand, ie.e, a pay rise of 7.6% in 1st year and then 4.5% for next 2 years. This is an addition to the current conditions being kept. 7.6% = current inflation rate 4.5% and 3.1% (the difference between the three 2.5% payrises and the actual inflation rates for the past 3 years). Your proposal of a 5% payrise does look to truly help us cope with the inflation rates in real life.
Why is the union going for ‘5% now’ instead of the rate to catch up with the last 3 yrs of CPI increase after the last EA ?
Workers lost out big time!
Is the CEPU negotiating a higher rate than the ‘5% now’ in the following years?
Telstra is already offering a 4.5% on an ECA, plus all our current entitlements….. and the Union wants to go in negotiating at 5% - do you work for us or them.
We have already advised via previous email that we are not prepared to accept Telstra’s offer due to the pay rise of 4.5% for the first year, followed by 4% and 4% for the next 2 years.
I would suggest the extra 0.5% pay rise the Union is talking about isn’t going to satisfy your Members either.
Apparently a 7.6% increase in the first year would be required for us to catch up with CPI - so ‘5% now’ doesn’t cut it.
The Unions representing Teachers & Nurses don’t seem to have an issue fighting for there Members and what they deserve.
I suggest the Unions start talking & LISTENING to its members a lot more & asking them what they want and expect.
Give the worker a break and start working for us (the employees/Members) instead of the Employer!
I am not the only disgruntled Union Member!!
5% ??? We have been well below CPI for the last three years of the current EA, we have made strong productivity gains over that period, CPI is currently high (around 5%) and projected to climb higher before it slowly falls to 3% in three to four years.
Our real wages have dropped whilst our productivity has increased. Surely everyone understands that our wages dont buy the same as they did a few years ago, food, fuel, rent, mortgage payments have all gone up faster than our ability to pay them.
5% ?, if I had the conditions of the failed ECA and then dropped my union membership dues, I would be well over 5% !!!
5% takes us backwards “a little bit”. Why should we go backwards at all, when the company can find 13% for Sol?? His 13% could provide an extra 5% for us all, on top of the 4.5% they were offering.
I think 9.5% now is a reasonable, and affordable, starting point, with the next rises linked to whatever Sol votes for himself.
Only 5%?
All in their plan, delay it a month and they save another 1/2% as per their documents!
Should be BACKDATED to September and CPI +
At lest 6%
What 5% as a starting point, that’s pathetic. The members deserve better than that, we have been duded for the last couple of EA’s when employers were revelling in little Johnny’s Work choices legislation. 2.5% in the last EA did not even keep up with inflation, so we need to claw those losses back and start out at something like 9% p.a. If we can’t get a decent pay rise with a Federal Labor government in power we may as well kiss the Unions goodbye.
Indeed the last round of rises were below cpi, but conditions were preserved. As we all know a lot has changed since then (living/working conditions) so I think its time for a little more over infaltion/cpi & then some. We have given this company huge productivity & profit gains & it`s high time we got what we deserve, as said in his own words “WE are the company`s greatest asset” Time to show it with a fair deal for staff.
I am very disapointed that our Union is seeking only a 5% pay rise on our behalf. The cost of living and Inflation in this country has risen well above 5% in recent years and this small pay rise will not compensate us for the years of neglect shown us by the former liberal governments and by Telstra management. If teachers and nurses can get 10% then why does our union make us crawl and beg for a poultry 5% when we have the advantage now in our negotiating position. It’s time that we stop groping around with our heads in the sand and demand a much better deal. Telstra cant run a network without us just as surely as any hospital cannot run without nurses. Telstra management have shown us how they treat us with contempt. Andrea Grant appears on our desktop PC’s everyday telling us how much telstra values it’s employees but then secretly behind closed doors she plots to cut the pay and conditions of the very same staff she claims to protect. IT IS AN INSULT TO ME WHAT IS GOING ON IN MY COMPANY and I believe we should all walk off the job together TO SEND A LOUD MESSAGE TO TELSTRA MANAGEMENT. If Greg Win can get a 100% pay rise to 11 million dollars a year after only 1 year of service then i can surely get 10% pay rise on my modest income. Lets send Sol back to where he came from. He is not Australian and does not respect our values. If Telstra are so determined to remove us award staff from the company and if they want to change our conditions of employment to make us work on contracts for less money then they should pay us out now and make us redundant. It is the only decent thing to do.
The union should be looking at 7% as the min payrise. Bonus’s should also be started at the ME level of the rating system to ensure that 80% of the staff have opportunity to share in the companies success. We have constantly been told that if every staff member was rated ME then this company is in good shape. This agreement is not just about what we have acheive so far (which they tell us is outstanding), but also what we are going to have to acheive over the next 3 years to keep this company going strong.
When you consider the cost of living and the fact that costs from here on in are only going to increase due to carbon trading drought etc etc we should be asking for at least 6.5% as a minimum. Lets face it if Sol can get 13% then we at least deserve half of his gain. How you justify Greg Winns 96% I don’t know but lets not be greedy like them and at least go for what is fair.
Telstra have saved a lot on wages in the past 5 years and gained a lot in productivity.
5% is rubbish
!!!!!!!!NOTHING LESS THAN 6%!!!!!
If it’s good enough for Sol to get such a massive increase then as the company’s greatest asset we should be rewarded for our efforts in achieving the productivity gains we’ve given them. Keep up the negotiations on your members behalf, as I think 5% is only a starting point. Thanks.
The initial pay rise should be AT LEAST 6%, 5% to cover inflation and at least 1% for productivity increase.
Telstra has great delight telling the market how much they have improved productivity each year, It’s about time the PEOPLE who makes this happen get some recognition and reward, and I don’t mean a ticket to the pictures.
The comments by many other people here are correct. We NEED at least 7.5% this year to make up for what we lost over the duration of the last agreement. Follow up with at least 5% and 5% in the next two years and we will be close to breaking even.
I totally agree with the sentiments of the responses so far. I’m also insulted that giving the “valued” workers a meagre pay rise is so difficult for Telstra management. And then to say with a straight face, we can get a bonus if we individually achieve I higher than expected performance rating. We’ve been told 20% of staff have achieved this higher rating. So, the other 80% of staff have put in the equivalent of ZIP for the company !! How on earth did Sol and his managers manage to achieve anything to justify their wage rises. Yes, through OUR PERFORMANCE and what have we been rewarded with, a fight over a pathetic amount of a pay rise.
Anything below 7.5% then 5% & 5% starting 1st Sep 2008 & I drop my membership. I’ve had enough of these grubs in upper management! Ever since they introduced AWA’s, promotions and pay rises have gone out the window, come to think of it might just chuck the whole job in.
5% starting next pay? Better hurry. Now that the ECA has been rejected by a majority vote, How about just promote everyone up one grade? Telstra must have given up on the timetable in the slide pack, shouldn’t we just about be ready for another ECA vote somewhere?
we require at least 6% and back dated follwed by a further 6+6. all present conditions to stay including RDO’s.
We have been receiving the odd pat on the back from the CEO and others for our excellent efforts in rolling out Next G in world record time but in the same breath we are told we are required to put in even greater efforts going forward but not to expect any increase in monetary reward. Even worse, apparently we are expected to cop an effective pay cut for our efforts over the next couple of years, if you factor in the CPI.
Considering the effort staff have put in over the last few years anything below 7.5% then 5% & 5% starting 1st Sep 2008 would be less than equitable.
We work hard, we talk to customers and it is us, the employees that make this company what it is. Unfortunately this thinking appears to be in stark contrast to Sol’s view
REF: http://www.australianit.news.com.au/story/0,24897,24431214-15306,00.html
“According to Mr Trujillo, he turned the business around by instilling a new business culture built upon “principle-based leadership”. Apparently it’s all about Sol and Siebel.
A union agreement with a 5% increase may not be enough for everyone but would not be dependent on management discretion, or achieving management determined and particularly variable KPI’s, it would be a guaranteed increase. A union agreement would also ensure that Telstra does not remove union involvement and gain total control and the opportunity to prosecute their agenda and staff as they see fit.
What is the price of natural justice?
Gary could be right, we need at least 7.5% plus minimum 5 and 5 to catchup or we won’t be able to afford to keep working now that workers will eventually end up paying for the $4 billion bailout, not coming out of the $21 billion Defence Budget I’m guessing. There’s no rebates for petrol or fares for the pleasure of going to work, or the extra hours that getting to work and back add to your day.
I see that HR are continuing on today with their already rejected sameo sameo vanilla offer.
This was my response to the ECA offer - feel free to use it!
To HR Management,
I would like to see a union negotiated agreement offered for all Telstra workers that protects and improves pay and conditions.
7.5% for the first year then 5% for each year after. We keep all existing conditions and our unions are able to represent in this dispute and other disputes.
Reform the grubby PICM process as well.