Telstra unions strike over enterprise agreement
By Leo Wellin
Telstra workers in the Community and Public Sector Union voted overwhelmingly for a 24-hour strike on August 28 to protest Telstra's latest enterprise agreement offer, announced to mass meetings around the country on August 21.
Despite evidence that the CPSU officials are running cold on the mass meetings, (in some cases not notifying members of the meeting time and place until two days before), the mood on the floor of the meetings reflected anger at management and a preparedness to take action.
"Management are all the time telling me to focus on customers, focus on getting the job done. Well, right now I'm focussing on management and if you look at all the things they're trying to bring in and all the things they've already introduced, like the management process [individual performance monitoring], then this enterprise agreement isn't worth the shit under my shoe", said one call centre delegate, to the cheers of the Sydney meeting.
"Everything in this agreement, from the extended hours and Saturday work to all the chops and changes they want in the future, isn't about making my life easier", said another call centre worker in Brisbane. He was referring to Telstra's advertising slogan, "Making life easier".
"Every time I think about the last 12 months of negotiations and all the policies Telstra has introduced, I hum the tune 'Killing Me Softly'", said one Sydney delegate. "They're killing us all softly by introducing all the workplace changes they want without even worrying about the union."
On top of establishing rostered 12-hour working days, phasing in Saturday work at ordinary time, abolishing many penalty rates for shift-workers and leaving no avenues to appeal management's decisions, Telstra is now demanding an end to annual pay increments.
The current pay structure allows staff increases of 3-6% per year in recognition of increased skill, knowledge and productivity, but Telstra want this replaced by a single pay point classification structure (i.e., pay stays the same year in year out).
Adding insult to injury, Telstra is proposing an immediate 4% pay rise, with a second 4% rise conditional on a work force restructure. In a management road-show, the two-year enterprise agreement is being presented as simply an 8% pay offer in a context of "Telstra must change if it is to remain competitive".
A senior management brief appealing to call centre staff not to attend the August 21 stop-work meetings stated: "As a business whose clear aim is to be Australia's premier sales business, we believe that our sales people have to be highly professional and customer focussed.
"A professional sales consultant is one who values our customers and is committed to being available when our customers require us to be there ... any industrial action would be contrary to our vision and aspirations. It would affect our capability to be available when customers seek our assistance. Remember, customers are our business."
National officials at the CPSU meetings in Sydney and Melbourne floated the idea that the planned industrial action could be called off if "significant progress is made in negotiations". The signs are, however, that this is not likely. In fact, CPSU negotiators have warned that a staff vote without official union endorsement is now a possibility. Members resolved at the mass meetings to call immediate stop-work meetings should this occur.
At the Brisbane meeting, a motion was moved by Democratic Socialist activist Tim Stewart calling for "any future industrial action to be carried out jointly with the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, and that a volunteer industrial campaign committee be formed". This motion was endorsed with only one vote against.
To date, the CPSU national leaders have been reluctant to coordinate an all-out campaign in conjunction with the CEPU, the other main union covering Telstra workers.