When you read today’s announcement about Telstra’s planned approach to negotiate with employees over a new enterprise agreement, nothing could better demonstrate that little’s changed at Telstra.
Sure, the CEO’s changed – but today shows that the mindset remains the same.
In a self-gratifying gesture, Telstra pauses for applause over their announcement to obey the new laws set out in the Fair Work Act, which will enforce the employer’s responsibility to enter into good faith bargaining with their employees’ chosen representatives.
For example, it’s telling when you look at the way Telstra made this announcement.
They never wrote back to unions who have asked for months – on behalf of members – to get back to the bargaining table.
They never respected the wishes of members, many of whom are taking industrial action, wanting Telstra to get back to the bargaining table.
They merely issued a public statement and then passed on to unions what they were telling employees.
Remember this: the new laws were passed months ago, it’s been known for ages that these laws were coming – so why didn’t Telstra clear the air and sit back down and talk with unions weeks ago?
Today was a golden opportunity for Telstra to powerfully demonstrate it was prepared to change its approach to employee relations – and it stumbled at the starting blocks.
It declined the opportunity to rebuild relations and basically put out something with the warmth and genuineness of a Public Notice, like those that can be found in any metropolitan newspaper across the country.
And their Public Notice effectively states: “from 1 July we’ll follow the new laws, but we can’t be forced into anything we don’t agree with.”
Telstra HR: same old, same old
Telstra HR has decided to take a literal approach to the law – instead of turning a new leaf, and ending the conflict that has dogged Telstra for nearly a year.
This conflict begain when Telstra crashed wage talks with Telstra HR’s Andrea Grant’s almost giddy announcement that Telstra was walking away from talks with the unions.
It then turned out that Telstra always planned to walk away from the talks so they could then try to roll out non-union deals – “negotiated” with handfuls of five to ten employees at a time.
An overwhelming majority of our members rejected Telstra’s approach – firmly signalling they want unions at the bargaining table.
Don’t be surprised if Telstra HR fight good faith bargaining all the way.
Good faith bargaining flies in the face of the way Telstra HR has previously approached wage negotiations: to deny unions the right to represent employees, employees who have a democratic right to join a union and have it seek agreement about conditions, job security and wages with an employer.
Message of inclusion, undercut and underdone:
The other disturbing element of today’s news is that it is counter to the work the CEO has undertaken to restore Telstra’s terrible public image.
While the CEO is preaching inclusion and relationship repair, Telstra’s HR team is not prepared to follow the new approach.
And it brutally undercuts David Thodey’s public messages, because the HR approach demonstrates something telling about Telstra’s priorities in repairing stakeholder relations.
- It seems if you have money – that is, you’re a customer or you’re the Federal Government – then you rank high on the list of stakeholders that Telstra wants to become friends with again.
But repairing relationships with employees – another vital stakeholder for Telstra – is low on the list.
Our message to the Government is clear – Telstra’s HR approach is signal enough that the Government should question Telstra’s sincerity in building stronger stakeholder relations.
If the new CEO is serious about demonstrating to the public that he means what he says about improving relationships, then getting a new enterprise agreement with unions and their members should be a priority.
And it should be a genuine attempt at repairing relations, not one driven by a re-fashioned commitment to a “winner take all” style of management.
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