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CWU T&S WEEKLY BULLETIN NO 2019 / 31
25 AUGUST 2019

TELSTRA EBA HOOK-UP
Monitor our HOME PAGE for details of the next hook-up. The hook-up is hosted by John Ellery a member of the negotiating committee from our T&S Vic Branch.

TELSTRA - MORE REDUNDANCIES
Telstra announced a further 257 redundancies this week. Initial discussions reveal that more jobs are going to ICC in Bangalore India. Telstra insist that there are not the skills in Australia to do the work. We dispute that. While only some of the jobs are going to India, the rest effectively reduce the corporate pool of talent and ability to service customers. If you have any issues with the redundancies, please contact us.

POST ADDITIONAL DAY
Aus Post has continued to seek to replace the Xmas Additional Day holiday with an additional day of accumulated ARL through ongoing discussions involving some state branch leadership teams. Given Post's determination to implement this change, the Union has suggested an alternative - for the holiday to continue to occur on a set day, a Monday or Friday. Despite this meaning it will not occur during the Christmas/New Year period, it still allows members to continue to enjoy an additional long-weekend throughout the year. The Union's alternative proposal has been accepted by Post and the holiday will occur on a Friday, yet to be announced. However, members will have the opportunity to elect in advance to work on the holiday and have the time added to their ARL, or to take an alternative day off. Post will be writing to you and undertaking briefings in your workplace to ask for your preference.

VISIONSTREAM TALKS
Bargaining with Visionstream management recommenced last week following employees' rejection of the bosses' EBA proposal. Visionstream proposed no real changes. The pay offer stands as 1.5% and 2.5% for former Silcar and Visionstream employees respectively. They have stood firm on their "need" for a Building Code compliant agreement. In an inflammatory move, Visionstream has advised that it will place an end date on any back pay to be paid to employees if and when a new agreement is reached. That is, back pay will only be paid for the period of 1 Jan 2019 and 1 Aug 2019. Further talks are planned.

UNION ELECTION RESULTS
The full results can be found on our web page. See our HOME PAGE and look under "About CEPU" and "2019 Elections".

TELSTRA EBA - JOHN ELLERY VIEW
At the meeting a week ago, cl 45 discussions commenced, and significant reservations were raised about a modified clause 45. Quite frankly, we don't appear to have progressed very far at all, if any. Telstra are still adamant that the replacement EBA must contain something that allows them to redeploy people into subsidiaries, without opposition. If that is the case, and judging by the calls from concerned members (in particular from those currently in the InfraCo Business Unit), the issue still has a long way to go to be resolved. Clearly, the lack of trust that exists about Telstra's intentions is not being diminished; in fact, it is arguable that more words complicate the matter, leaving more concern with members.
The question that Telco Union officials have to deal with right now is whether the risks of a "refreshed" (replacement) EBA outweigh the disadvantages of remaining with our current (albeit expired) 2015-2018 Telstra EBA. Added to this is the abysmal money offer, which has been hovering around 1.8 % pa for a 2 year agreement. (and that Telstra have already paid one lot of 1.5% in October last year and have indicated they will pay "by policy" a further 1.5% in October this year.) So the monetary gain is so miniscule that the question is really there - do we want to have a replacement EBA that allows some incredibly major changes to occur, for what or who's benefit? Is it right that a Trade Union could possibly endorse a further break up or dismemberment of the remaining parts of Telstra that could disadvantage members significantly?
We also have a situation where the proposed changes (in policy) to the way Long Service Leave is being pressured leave us with serious questions about the value of a replacement EBA.

AUS POST BONUS
This year's payment of the One Team Bonus will be paid on 4 Sep. The additional payment of 1% is paid if Post meets key performance indicators relating to service targets and profit during the preceding financial year. You should receive advice from 30 Aug detailing the amount payable to you. The actual amount you will receive will be dependent on your gross taxable income for the 2018-19 financial year.

AUS POST ANNUAL REPORT
Post has released its annual results reporting that it is delivering record revenues.
+ Group revenue $6,990m up2%, boosted by growing eCommerce
+ Group Profits $41m, down 67% from $126m impacted by significant letter losses
+ Strong contribution to government. Taxes and dividends totalling $1,300m
+ Domestic parcels grew 9.2% to $3,181m. International parcels grew 15.7% to $586m
+ Financial Services and Identity Services generated over $500m revenue.
Post also signed the Bank@Post community agreements, first with Commonwealth Bank, NAB and Westpac, and now more than 70 other financial institutions. Other highlights for the financial year included:
Continued investment program across the operation network - invested $424m including $300m CAPEX in robotics and automation and 1000 electric delivery vehicles purchased to support the growing ecommerce market, offering significant safety and environmental benefits. There was strong customer uptake of alternate delivery options - more than 90 million parcels delivered via the Post Office network und increasing use of 24/7 Parcel Lockers in 350 locations.
This financial year letter revenues declined almost 9% to $2,216m and losses from this business increased to $192m. The losses in the letters business were after receiving the benefit from posties who ore now carrying over 40% of parcels.
"It is important letter pricing is addressed responsibly to ensure essential community post services are protected, Without an increase to the Basic Postage Rate, Post will no longer be able to afford to fully subsidise the losses from the important post business, which would risk the closure of community post offices and a reduction in services" Ms Holgate said.

CONTACTING US
Our Branch Secretary is Dan Dwyer. He is a former tech with extensive Communications industry experience. He is also an industrial lawyer. Contact us by replying to the bulletin or by phone on 0428 942 878.


VIP - CONTACTING US - NEW PHONE NUMBER
Please note the following changes as we simplify our phone numbers
0428 942 878 dan.dwyer@cwunion.net Dan Dwyer Secretary/Lawyer - for industrial matters & advice
0447 265 443 reception@cwunion.net Administrative eg payments, applications, change of details

Authorised by Dan Dwyer Branch Secretary
CWU Telecommunications & Services Branch, Leichhardt, NSW.



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