Shame file
Telstra tries its luck with AWAs
The Community and Public Sector Union (CPSU) has slammed a post-election move by Telstra to get thousands of staff to sign new five-year Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).
In what the union describes as a "cynical and renegade" move, Telstra management is pressuring staff on existing AWAs to sign new five-year contracts, regardless of how long their current agreement has to run.
They are also urging staff to sign up immediately and forgo the usual seven day 'cooling off' period.
CPSU National Secretary, Stephen Jones said: "It is obvious Telstra is doing everything it can to lock in the Howard Government's discredited work laws for as long as possible."
"Signing a new AWA now means staff will be locked out of the new collective agreement due to be negotiated with unions next year," Mr Jones said.
"Telstra's cynical AWA push flies in the face of the strong, anti-WorkChoices sentiment expressed by the Australian community at [the federal election].
"Voters have sent a clear and unmistakable message about workplace fairness to the Government. It is a message that big business would be unwise to ignore.
"Even Joe Hockey has declared WorkChoices dead. Yet Telstra remain hell-bent on moving as many staff as possible onto WorkChoices agreements," said Mr Jones.
Just weeks before the election, a Telstra plan to introduce a WorkChoices, non-union collective agreement for non-AWA staff was overwhelmingly rejected by employees.
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