Why the rush Telstra?

November 13, 2008

It’s less than two months ago that a clear majority of Service Advantage and Call Centric staff voted no to a non-union, non-negotiated offer from Telstra.

So why is Human Resources doing it again? And why are they targeting a couple of dozen staff in Perth?

Management are starting to appear desperate to get an agreement in place somewhere . . . anywhere.

In this case, they have put the proposal to a vote within seven days of it first being offered to staff – the bare minimum required by law.

This has given members and staff very little time to seek advice. Combined with reports of staff being brow-beaten into lodging an expression of interest, there is something very fishy about the latest offer.

So what’s changed from last time? Management was forced to make some improvements – mainly to redundancy entitlements for new staff – to the proposal that was defeated in September.

But the new offer is by and large, the same as before. It follows the same divide-and-conquer strategy and and it still has major flaws (see the attached analysis).

If this offer is made to you, you should ask whether the pay rise stacks up, particularly compared to Sol Trujillo’s 14% pay rise last year.

Telstra management is telling staff it is facing financial constraints which are forcing it to limit the amount it can pay you – but it is boasting to the investment community about how strongly the company is performing.

Under the non-union deal, your rights at work – including the right to have union meetings at work during working hours – will be diminished.

All in all, there is no reason to vote yes this time for a deal that has already been rejected.

But also be aware that HR’s strategy means that until someone accepts the offer, they will continue looking for small work areas where collective strength is not as great.

There is a better way. Workers showed in September that when they stick together and reject these unfair agreements we can get a better deal for all Telstra employees.

Written by TelstraUnions · Filed Under Telstra HR's dodgy dealings, Union bulletins 

Comments

One Response to “Why the rush Telstra?”

  1. david on November 14th, 2008 7:48 am

    wake up management..we will not give in…your eca will not get up..stop wasting time and money..very hard to keep a positive attitude about the company at all these days..

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