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CWU: Your Voice in Enterprise Bargaining |
CWUnion: Your Voice in Enterprise Bargaining
BALLOT RESULTS
Telstra employees vote YES to new Agreement
Telstra employees have voted to accept the Telstra Enterprise Agreement 2012-2015.
Just over 80% of those who voted in the ballot voted YES. This is a strong result and represents a clear endorsement of the Agreement.
The participation rate for the ballot was also high with 60% of those eligible to vote doing so. This is a big number given that voting was not compulsory. Participation rates in non-compulsory ballots are commonly in the 30-40% range.
The fact that voting was largely conducted electronically and at work no doubt contributed to the high participation rate.
But the return also suggests that employees were keen to pick up an agreement which offered acceptable pay rises without involving any trade-off of core conditions.
This result accords with the messages that CWU members sent to our negotiating team at the beginning of bargaining and at subsequent membership meetings conducted by state branches. Members on the whole wanted to see a fair agreement which delivered pay rises based on a back-to-back transition from the current TEA to the new one - as long as that did not involve loss of key entitlements.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Agreement will now go to Fair Work Australia (FWA) and will become operative once it has been approved by that body. The pay rises however will come into effect from 1 October (to align them with the current October pay system for Job Family employees) and will be received by employees in the first pay after that date i.e. in the October 10 pay.
ENFORCING YOUR AGREEMENT
Once approved by FWA the Agreement is legally binding on Telstra and on all employees to whom it applies. Unions such as the CWU who have acted as bargaining representatives during negotiations can also apply to be covered by the Agreement.
CWU members are urged to familiarise themselves with the Agreement, especially as the layout and wording is different from that in earlier agreements so that for those used to the old layout it is not always easy to check entitlements quickly.
Knowing the contents of the Agreement is a key to making sure that it is enforced. It is easy in the day-to-day operations of a company as large and diverse as Telstra for changes in conditions of work to be introduced without the CWU becoming aware of it. Such changes may constitute a breach of the Agreement.
The union relies on its members to alert it to any such changes so that the entitlements of members can be protected now that they have been agreed on.
ONGOING DISCUSSIONS ON PAY AND CLASSIFICATION STRUCTURES
Lastly members should be aware that the issues around pay and classification structures that were at the centre of both this and the previous round of bargaining have not gone away.
As part of this overall package, the CWU has agreed to ongoing negotiations about the way work in the company is structured and paid for. Membership input into this process will be crucial if we are to reach any position which accommodates both Telstra's perspective and the strong views of CWU members on performance-based pay systems.
Members are urged to keep abreast of these discussions as they develop.
4 October 2012
28 Sep 12 - Telstra Bargaining Update #21
With voting on the proposed Telstra Enterprise Agreement about to commence, the CWU met with Telstra on Tuesday 25 September to attempt to resolve a number of issues which have arisen during the EA consultation period.
The advice in this bulletin is in addition to that provided in Bargaining Update #19 which dealt with a wider range of frequently asked questions but touched on some of these same issues.
Overtime payments
As reported in Bargaining Update #19, the CWU had previously received written confirmation from Telstra that there would be no change to existing entitlements of technical staff in relation to:
Telstra has now agreed that the letter confirming this position will be handed up to Fair Work Australia as an attachment to the Agreement when Telstra presents it for certification. This will effectively give the provisions the same status as if they were part of the actual Agreement document.
Rest breaks in Voice Solutions and other call centres
The CWU has made representations to Telstra about the impact of proposed changes to rest break entitlements for employees working in Voice Solutions call centres.
The changes have come about as a result of the overall attempt in the Agreement to align conditions across the company for employees performing essentially the same functions. The CWU does not consider, however, that this should mean lowering standards that currently provide essential health and safety protections for those doing intense and repetitive work.
Telstra has now written to the CWU confirming that there will be no change to existing rest break arrangements in Voice Solutions centres without there first being consultation with "affected employees and their union" and without a full consideration of health and safety issues.
In the meantime the status quo remains.
Members should also note that while in all contact centres other than EOOO the Agreement proposes a new minimum rest break of 10 rather than 15 minutes, these times are a minimum not a maximum rest period. Again any change to existing practices will require consultation, including a consideration of health and safety impacts.
Schedule notice periods
Under the proposed Agreement all employees (other than those in the Townsville consumer contact centre) working on schedules or rosters will receive their schedules/rosters a minimum of 2 weeks in advance.
As with rest breaks, the intention here was to align conditions across the company. At present employees in certain call centres (Alchemy, Casino and Townsville Service Solution or their successors) are entitled to a minimum of four weeks' notice of a new schedule. All other employees are only entitled to 7 days. The two weeks represents a mid-point.
Members should note however that the 2 week period is a minimum. Telstra has advised that where longer notice periods presently apply and where this suits both Telstra and the employees the current arrangements may continue.
Under the Agreement Telstra must also discuss any proposed changes to your hours of work with you and take into account your preferences and personal circumstances, including your family/carer responsibilities. Failure to do so would represent a breach of the Agreement.
Redundancies
Under the transitional arrangements in the EA, any employee who is notified of redundancy and in receipt of the relevant paper work before the new Agreement comes into operation (probably mid-October if there is a YES vote) is entitled to the current redundancy payments, including the Job Search and Early Leaver payments.
However the CWU has received a number of queries from members about the impact of the Agreement on employees whose work areas are under review but who have not yet been notified of redundancy. Two such areas are field delivery (Project Pearl) and tests and products (Project Cayenne).
The CWU has asked Telstra to expedite the processes in these two cases so as to allow affected employees who choose to leave the company rather than be redeployed to have access to the current entitlements.
Telstra has indicated that Project Cayenne may not be far enough advanced to allow notification of redundancies before the new Agreement comes into effect. Project Pearl is nearer to completion but Telstra is still to verify the processes and dates that will apply in this case.
27 September 2012
25 Sep 12 - Telstra Bargaining Update #20
The ballot for the Telstra Enterprise Agreement 2012-2015 opens on 27 September.
So it is now time for all Telstra employees to consider what the Agreement means for them.
That assessment may differ to some extent between different groups of employees because the Agreement has not completely overcome the differences in conditions that have arisen in Telstra over the last decade and a half.
But, in line with our initial aims, we have moved a considerable way towards getting a more equitable set of conditions and pay arrangements in the company.
At the same time, the Agreement can be expected to deliver real wage rises (i.e. above inflation) for all Workstream employees and for most of those in the Job Family.
With possible political and economic changes on the horizon, the CWU considers that it is important for employees to secure these gains now rather than gambling on making further changes to the Agreement in 3 or perhaps 6 months' time.
That is why we are recommending a YES vote in this ballot.
On balance, a positive result for CWU members.......
The Union considers that, on balance, the Agreement represents a good bargaining outcome for members.
This has to be set against the move to the Fixed Remuneration pay formula in July 2013 which will have the effect of increasing the redundancy entitlements of most CWU members by at least 9% (because superannuation is included in the salary figure for payouts).
The only major change to entitlements for most CWU members comes as a result of Telstra's new emphasis on redeployment over redundancy - a change which the CWU welcomes. This has meant a removal of the incentives which were introduced in the early 2000s to encourage employees to leave the company quickly i.e. the $4,500 Job Search and two weeks Early Leaver payments.
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