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CWU: Your Voice in Enterprise Bargaining |
CWUnion: Your Voice in Enterprise Bargaining
The most recent negotiations between Telstra and the union Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) were held on 12 July.
Bargaining timelines are now getting tight if agreement is to be reached in time for a back-to-back transition from the current Enterprise Agreement to a new one. In recognition of this Telstra and the unions have agreed to schedule a number of full-day negotiating meetings
The first of these was held on 12 July. Another full-day discussion of pay and classifications was held on 16 July with a full-day negotiating meeting due to follow on 18 July.
Redundancy and Redeployment
Our concerns about Telstra's proposals in relation to redundancy and redeployment have been outlined in earlier Bargaining Updates.
Telstra has indicated that it wants to make redeployment a higher priority in the company. This is in line with its obligations under the $100 million agreement with the federal government to retrain and redeploy those whose jobs may be made redundant by the National Broadband Network project.
The CWU supports this emphasis on redeployment. We have indicated concern though about the prospect of employees losing access to redundancy payouts if they did not accept a "suitable" redeployment option.
At the meeting of 16 July, Telstra acknowledged these concerns and undertook to come back with a re-worked proposal that took them into account. The new proposal should allow employees a choice as to whether they accepted a particular redeployment option.
Irregular working hours
Telstra's "first-cut" proposal on working hours was circulated with Bargaining Update #8. As it stands it would mean significant changes for all employees but particularly for new employees in call centres. Telstra is proposing a larger span of hours and a reduction in weekend shift payments for these employees.
It is still relatively early days in the discussion around this proposal but as always the devil will be in the detail in this area. The SBU has indicated that for negotiations to proceed the actual wording of any proposed changes needs to be tabled. Telstra has agreed to provide the proposed new clauses for the next negotiating meeting.
Pay and classifications
Telstra and the SBU are still exploring the possibility of reaching agreement on a single classification and pay structure in the company. A major sticking point, however, remains the payment of a negotiated, uniform pay rise for all employees irrespective of where they are deemed to sit in a "performance" hierarchy.
Telstra has acknowledged that most employees on the EA do not accept the company's preferred "performance" pay model - after all they repeatedly rejected it, both for themselves and new starters, when the company rolled out ECAs in 2008-9. It follows that the current model would have to be significantly changed before it could provide the basis for an integrated system across the whole company.
The SBU has continued to work on developing an alternative which it believes could be acceptable to members while meeting some of Telstra's objectives. If this is rejected, the union will be considering further options which will reflect the outlook and expectations of members in this area.
Job security
The CWU has tabled a range of proposals designed to protect security of employment in Telstra. These range from an emphasis on voluntary (rather than management-selected) redundancy through to the use of contractors and the off-shoring of jobs.
Telstra has indicated that some of these proposals can be dealt with in the re-worked redundancy agreement wording. But it has said NO to measures which would limit its ability to outsource or off-shore jobs. Policy on the use of contractors, etc. are to be discussed at the next meeting.
Retail Agreement
Telstra Retail employees are currently covered by their own Employee Collective Agreement which was introduced by Telstra in 2007 prior to the election of the Rudd Labor government. The conditions in the ECA are inferior in many respects to those in the current EA and ECAs, even compared to Category 2/ Part B. The current Retail ECA, for instance, provides a maximum of only 40 weeks redundancy pay.
One gain from the proposed harmonisation of conditions across the company is Telstra's decision to extend the full 80 weeks redundancy entitlement to these employees.
It is true that the rate of employee turnover in this area probably means that relatively few people will actually work long enough for the company to get the full entitlement. However, the CWU welcomes Telstra's move to create more equitable conditions for this section of their staff.
For CWU members who are interested in conditions in Retail, Telstra's summary of its proposals is attached.
17 July 2012
The CWU and other Telstra unions met on 5 July to continue negotiations for a new Enterprise Agreement.
This was the first full meeting since the 21 June negotiations reported on in Bargaining Update #7. The Pay and Classifications Working Party has now met twice since that time, on 2 July and 9 July.
A full day meeting of the negotiation teams is scheduled for this Thursday, July 12 with a further full day's discussions on pay and classification structures proposed for Monday 13 July. This timetable reflects all parties' recognition that time is getting short if we are to reach an agreement before the current Enterprise Agreement reaches its nominal expiry date.
Pay and Classifications
The first item at the 5 June negotiations was a report from the Pay and Classifications Working Party on issues relating to translation of employees to any single system that can be agreed upon.
As has been reported before, Telstra's clear preference is for all employees to go onto the current "Job Family" model. Failing this, Telstra is proposing a two-part structure which would leave most (but not all) current Category 1/Part A employees on pay and classification arrangements similar (but not identical) to those they currently have.
CWU members should be aware that Telstra is not proposing the status quo remain for Category 1/Part A employees
At the working party meeting of 2 July Telstra indicated that it wanted to make performance-based pay more central to the Category 1/Part A system.
Telstra has yet to put a fully developed proposal to the unions as to how this would be done but the CWU has signalled that it does not believe a model which essentially reproduced the Category 2/Part B pay arrangements would find favour with CWU members.
Telstra also wants CFW and TW employees in Bands 8 and above (Job Family 2 and 3i) to automatically become part of the Job Family structure. The CWU has indicated that this is also unlikely to be acceptable to members.
For their part, the unions have been building on their earlier thinking about the possibility of a third model which combines some performance pay with annual negotiated pay rises for everyone. On 2 July we outlined options as to how current employees on both systems could be transitioned to this third model.
It has now been agreed that given the complexity of the issues being considered by the working party, a full day's discussion of them will be scheduled for 16 July.
Redundancy and Redeployment
A report on the main features of Telstra's proposals on redundancy was contained in Bargaining Update #7. Discussion in this area has not progressed much further although the CWU has indicated that the proposal would need to be modified significantly before it could be recommended to members.
As reported previously, Telstra says it now wants to limit redundancies and encourage redeployment. After nearly 20 years of constant labour shedding, this change of perspective is welcome.
However, the key issue here is the right of employees to refuse redeployment without losing access to redundancy entitlements. Telstra is proposing that refusal of "suitable" redeployment would in effect amount to resignation even if an employee's prior job was redundant. In these cases, employees would not be entitled to redundancy payout.
The CWU has indicated that clear and agreed criteria for what constitutes a "suitable" new role would have to be developed.
For instance, under the current Job Movement rules in Category 2/Part B of the collective agreements, employees can be transferred to a position which "they are capable of performing" as opposed to one "where the work is substantially the same" in the equivalent Category 1/Part A clause.
These phrases imply significantly different criteria for what is a "suitable" alternative position.
Processes to avoid manipulation of the system (e.g. favouring some employees over others either for redeployment or redundancy) would have to be considered.
These questions will be pursued at future meetings.
Shifts and Scheduling
Telstra has now presented details of what it is proposing in this area. A copy of the presentation made to the unions Single Bargaining Unit (SBU) is attached to this Update.
In relation to shifts Telstra is proposing:
The former penalty rates (50% and 100%) would apply to the whole shift in certain circumstance where part of the shift fell outside the span. (See attachment for details.)
In their preliminary response to this proposal, the unions indicated concern at the prospect of new employees coming into the company on lesser conditions. We also sought assurances that choosing to be available for shift work would be entirely voluntary.
Currently the CWU is working on a more detailed response to Telstra in this area. Input from members affected by the proposed changes, either via the website or through State Branches, would be welcome.
Job Security
The CWU has now tabled a number of proposed EA clauses aimed at ensuring greater job security within Telstra. These deal with such matters as outsourcing and off-shoring, use of casuals and giving priority to volunteers in situations of redundancy.
Telstra has undertaken to respond to these proposals at the next bargaining meeting scheduled for Thursday 12 July.
11 July 2012
SHIFTWORK & SCHEDULING - TELSTRA PROPOSAL - SUMMARY
What we're keeping for existing employees
Essentially, assuming employees stay in their current job, they would be no worse off as a result of the changes being proposed in the 'What we're introducing for new employees' section of this proposal.
What are the main changes?
Telstra also wants to introduce an increased span of hours for all new contact centre workers and changes to penalty rates for new employees doing shift work in these centres.
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