The Communications Union has launched its campaign against the further privatisation of Telstra with an unlikely hero: "Mobie The Mobile" will be dancing up a storm to Elvis's "Don't Be Cruel" at several rural and regional points of New South Wales from the 27 August to the 5 December 2001.
"This is Mobie's first public appearance, and for the next eleven weeks he will visit almost 60 rural and regional towns" said Jim Metcher, Secretary of the Communications electrical Plumbing Union (CEPU) Postal and Telecommunications Branch".
"It is vital that people understand the impact that full privatisation will have. Already the community is fed up with talking to computers every time they ring Telstra, they are fed up with the way the service standards have dropped. It will only get worse with further privatisation" claimed Mr Metcher.
"Telstra has cut thirty thousand jobs across Australia, meanwhile the savings have been soaked up by Senior Managers most of who wouldn't have any idea about how a phone actually works other than to order a pizza or a case of champagne" said Mr Metcher.
This campaign aims to highlight the issues surrounding the privatisation of Telstra. It focuses on the thousands of lost jobs and the drain in the skilled workforce, which has resulted in a communications network, which is on the verge of collapse.
"Some rural areas have reached the point of no return, we demand that the Howard Government or a future Beazley Government as the major shareholder reverse this trend. Australia deserves better," said Mr Metcher.
"Millions of dollars have been wasted on training people who have then been made redundant. As soon as they are trained they are forced out the door, it's little wonder the organisation is haemorrhaging. Somebody has to be made accountable for this type of gross mismanagement." said Mr Metcher.
Campaign itinerary
Following is the itinerary of the "Save Telstra" campaign across NSW:
27/8 | 10am | Batemans Bay Orient St Car park |
2pm | Moruya in the Main St |
28/8 | 10am | Bombala in the Main St |
29/8 | 10am | Cooma at Tourist Information Centre Main St |
30/8 | 10am | Queanbeyan Campaign Office 130 Monaro Street |
31/8 | 10am | Goulburn Call Centre Auburn Street |
3/9 | 12 noon | Raymond Terrace outside Community Care Centre |
4/9 | 10am | Forster outside Telephone Exchange, Wallis St |
5/9 | 10am | Taree outside PO, Albert St |
6/9 | 10am | Port Macquarie, Cnr Horton and Clarence Sts |
7/9 | 10am | Kempsey Telstra Call Centre, Elbow St |
9/9 | 8am | Coffs Harbour Markets |
10/9 | 10am | Grafton Market Square |
11/9 | 10am | Ballina Top end Main St East Ballina |
12/9 | 10am | Murwillumbah Main St |
13/9 | 10am | Tweed Heads, Tweed City Shopping Mall |
14/9 | 10am | Lismore Molworth St |
24/9 | 10am | Lithgow outside Main St PO |
25/9 | 10am | Mudgee Mideira Road |
26/9 | 10am | Orange PO Summer Street |
27/9 | 10am | Bathurst Sales Centre Howick |
3/10 | 10am | Narellan outside Campaign Office Narellan Shopping Centre |
4/10 | 10am | Telstra Springwood Exchange #143 McQuaris Road |
5/10 | 10am | Windsor outside Windsor Mall |
8/10 | 10am | Muswellbrook Market Place |
2pm | Scone Liverpool St |
9/10 | 10am | Maitland Green Hills Shopping Centre East Maitland |
10/10 | 10am | Nelsons Bay Outside PO Magna St |
11/10 | 10am | Cessnock outside Coles Centre |
12/10 | 2pm | Dungog outside Telephone Exchange |
23/10 | 10am | Bourke outside Telephone Exchange |
24/10 | 10am | Dubbo outside Telstra Shop McQuarry St |
25/10 | 10am | Parkes Clarinda St |
26/10 | 11am | Forbes outside PO |
5/11 | 10am | Gunnedah Connadilly St (behind the PO) |
6/11 | 10am | Narrabri Doyle St (behind PO) |
7/11 | 10am | Moree behind PO |
8/11 | 10am | Inverell outside PO |
9/11 | 12noon | Armidale Telstra Shop Dangar St |
10/11 | 10am | Tamworth outside PO Cnr Peel & Fitzroy Sts |
16/11 | 10am | Gosford Erina Fair off Karalta Rd Erina |
15/11 | 10am | Newcastle Telstra 317 Hunter St |
14/11 | 11am | Wollongong 90 Crown St |
13/11 | 10am | Nowra Call Centre Berry St |
26/11 | 9am | Tumut Main St |
27/11 | 10am | Albury outside Country Wide Cnr Swift & Kiewa Sts |
28/11 | 10am | Finley outside Newsagents Murray St |
29/11 | 10am | Deniliquin outside Steve Barlow Pharmacy 17-21 Napier St |
30/11 | 10am | Griffith Griffith Plaza Yambil St |
1/12 | 10am | Leeton Main St Shopping Centre |
3/12 | 11am | Wagga Wagga Telstra Shop 182 Bayliss St |
4/12 | 10am | Young in Main St Shopping Centre |
5/12 | 10am | Bowral The Corbett Plaza Bong Bong St |
Send a message to Canberra
The "Save Telstra" campaign will be reaching out to a large number of people across New South Wales and CEPU Officials, accompanied by Mobie the Mobile, will be handing out petitions for people to sign and return to the CEPU office.
You too can send a message to Canberra by calling the CEPU Office and asking for a copy of the petition, or simply printing it from this website, asking your family, friends, neighbours and co-workers to sign the petition and return it to us so we can pass it on to Canberra.
Campaign material
These documents are in Adobe Acrobat format.