CEPU : Connecting our community

Telstra EA update (13/10)

(13 October, 2009): After Telstra rolled out their disappointing pay offer, things have quietened down on the EA front.

But we're getting messages from members informing us that some local managers are being quite ... "inventive" ... when it comes to briefing employees on the state of play with the EA talks.

For the record, if a manager tells you the union is happy with the pay offer - they're wrong.

The unions have formally written to Telstra letting the company know in no uncertain terms that we cannot accept the offer on the table.

Some managers are also telling employees that there isn't much that is keeping union and management apart.

While is fair to say that we have reached likely agreement on many important issues, the talks are showing signs of bogging down over three key issues. They are:

  • The inadequacy of the pay increases on offer from Telstra, and their resistance to back pay;
  • Telstra's refusal to let Fair Work Australia arbitrate disputes;
  • Telstra's refusal to move from its ambition to have its non negotiated pay and classification system become the only system for all Telstra employees in the future.

There have been over 20 meetings with Telstra since they returned to the bargaining table in June.  It defies logic to think that members will be patient waiting for another 20 meetings to reach agreement.

We've made it clear to Telstra that we do not believe the employees on EBAs in Telstra will accept a position that:

  • would see them discriminated against or punished by being paid lesser increases than employees on other collective contracts, simply because they exercised their right to vote against Telstra's non-negotiated, non-union Employee Collective Agreements (ECAs).
  • continues to deny them their right to utilise the full resources of Fair Work Australia to pursue fair treatment in the event that it becomes necessary in disputes between Telstra and its employees.
  • enables Telstra to phase out and replace the negotiated and agreed EBA classification and remuneration system, a system which has delivered industry leading pay and conditions for Telstra employees and which has existed for decades and decades, in order to replace it with their totally non-negotiated, unfair classification and remuneration system, which Telstra has only been able to introduce via individual contracts and the Howard Government's discredited and defeated work place laws.

The CEPU has placed proposals on the table at the talks previously on these issues, which are initiatives aimed at helping to reach agreement.

However, agreement is not yet forthcoming.

In the meantime meetings of CEPU members are being held and organised throughout Australia to enable members to consider the potential options available to them should all efforts to reach agreement fail.

Let us know what you think via feedback@cepu.asn.au