Telecommunications
Employees say no - so management tries a new line
(16 February, 2009): Reports continue to come in advising that employees are rejecting the ECAs that are being put to them. Here's a quick snapshot of the state of play:
- The Brisbane South Service Delivery team rejected Telstra's ECA offer last week
- All ECAs from Sydney north to Queensland were voted down last week
- GNO ECA covering GOC staff was rejected, the INO ECA was also rejected
- The Wireless ECA in NSW was refused by staff - but staff in Queensland and Tasmania voted in favour
- The Alchemy ECA covering call centre staff in Burwood, VIC was rejected
- The WA Service Facility OPs ECA was voted down, along with a number of Service Delivery ECAs
- Network Construction ECAs solidly rejected across numerous states - with ECAs in SA and NSW (Broken Hill) also voted down
- And in late January the IT ECA was rebuffed
Clearly employees believe these ECAs are not in their interest - not surprisingly, we agree.
Telstra told you they would stop rolling out these ECAs after 31 January and that their pay offer would be taken off the table.
It's mid February and they're still offering ECAs - and they wonder why they have 'trust issues' with employees.
Here are some quick reasons why Telstra is doing this:
- There are $37m in labour savings to be made - savings made by taking money out of employee pockets (read more here)
- They're running down the clock, trying to beat the introduction of new workplace laws (read more here) that will stop this kind of management behaviour
- Why vote in an ECA now that locks you into a dud deal for THREE YEARS, if new laws will put you in a stronger bargaining position?
The following quote sums things up perfectly - from someone who studies these issues closely.
We reported previously a quote from Andrew Stewart, professor of law at the University of Adelaide, who has said Telstra stands out as one of the few large employers that have been “aggressive about using Work Choices, so it’s no surprise that it’s going to continue to try (to) use what’s left”.
“If they can lock in non-union collective agreements across their workforce before Labor’s new good-faith bargaining laws take effect, then it means they will only have to worry about the effect of those laws as and when those agreements come up for renewal, which would be up to five years away,” Stewart says.
“They’re figuring correctly that when the good-faith bargaining laws come in, there will be more pressure on them than there is under the current regime to actually deal with unions.
"You’ll have once again, as you had before Work Choices, an independent umpire that will have some power to step in and require some negotiations… The strategy, as I understand it, is to have arrangements in place that will fireproof them against Labor’s new bargaining laws.”
WARNING - WATCH OUT FOR THIS ONE:
We received a report late last week that managers are being instructed to tell staff the following highly misleading advice:
" ....if you are going to vote 'NO' in the ECA, you may as well not even vote - as it has the same effect."
Ask yourself this:
- Why is it that Telstra wants to know your vote BEFORE they put an ECA out in your area, but when you get a chance to vote they don't want you to vote at all?
TELSTRA'S ADVICE ON NOT VOTING NO IS WRONG - if you don't vote, then the YES vote is automatically strengthened. Don't fall for the trick.
Have a view? Let us know what you think at feedback@cepu.asn.au