The signing of Definitive Agreements between Telstra, NBN Co and the Commonwealth for the rollout of the National Broadband Network is an historic moment for the Australian telecommunications sector but must be accompanied by training for workers and a guarantee of secure jobs.
CEPU divisional secretary Cameron Thiele said the NBN was a massive project which would create employment opportunities for years to come, if it was handled properly.
“This is a chance to position Australian industry and workers as world-leaders in this growing technology,” Mr Thiele said.
‘It also has the potential to act as a platform for the renewal of skills in a sector which has seen a decline in systematic training for many years.”
“But it will take more work from all parties to the agreement to turn this into secure and skilled jobs for telecommunications workers.”
Mr Thiele said the CEPU welcomed the confirmation of the Commonwealth’s $100 million payment to Telstra for retraining Telstra staff to participate in the NBN build.
“These funds will support the supply of skilled workers for the project and ensure staff who may otherwise have faced redundancy have ongoing work within Telstra.
“It is in everyone’s interest that the skills of Telstra workers are fully utilised.”
“No Telstra employee who could reasonably be deployed on this work should be made involuntarily redundant over the life of the project.”
Mr Thiele said that or other telecommunications workers, present and future work opportunities with the NBN, would depend on the availability of high quality, nationally-recognised training.
“The responsibility for funding this training lies with industry and government. It cannot be shifted onto individual workers,” Mr Thiele said.
“We need to start working on this training now and develop a national skills base for the digital economy, or risk falling behind the rest of the world.”
The CEPU looks forward to working with all parties to these agreements in order to help achieve this goal with a view to securing stable, skilled and productive employment for all those in the telecommunications industry.
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