26 May 2009
The announcement by Telstra’s senior managers that the company will abandon its aggressive industrial relations policy and restart negotiations with unions over a new collective agreement is a major win for Telstra staff, says the ACTU.
It shows workers must always be treated with respect, said ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence.
Mr Lawrence said the decision by Telstra management was long overdue and an admission that the aggressive and confrontational strategy of the previous Telstra management headed by Sol Trujillo and Donald McGauchie had failed dismally.
Telecommunications unions have welcomed the announcement to staff as a first step by management towards restoring a constructive and co-operative relationship with workers.
"Telstra is a major Australian company and yet its standing in the community and its performance as a business have both declined significantly in recent years as a result of the company’s belligerent approach to all and sundry.
"The decision to acknowledge the right of employees to be represented by their union is a vindication of the stand taken by staff against the company’s unethical behaviour in negotiations.
"Thousands of Telstra workers stood up to defend their rights and voted to reject the repeated attempts by management to pressure them into sub-standard job contracts.
"Telstra management broke off all negotiations with unions in August last year, and subsequently embarked on a blatant strategy to divide its workforce into different classes of employees.
"It was only a matter of time before management would realise its hardline stance was untenable, and the only surprise is it has taken so long.
"This is only a first step towards a fair and rewarding agreement for all Telstra employees.
"Thousands of Telstra employees have not had a pay rise for almost two years and we look forward to sitting down with the new management as soon as possible.
"A new enterprise agreement must be an option for all staff, including those on Australian Workplace Agreements that are yet to expire, and those who had been forced onto non-union agreements in recent months.
"New federal IR laws which begin in July will strengthen workers' rights to collective bargaining and outlaw bad faith and capricious behaviour – so clearly the writing was on the wall for Telstra.
"This decision sends a clear message to employers all around Australia that they must respect fundamental workers’ rights to collective bargaining and union membership."
There are 31,000 staff at Telstra represented by the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) and Association of Professional Engineers, Scientists and Managers Australia (APESMA).
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