Negotiations for the next Telstra Enterprise Agreement have now been concluded.
The parties are still going over the draft Agreement to check for any errors of wording, but basically all outstanding issues have been finalised. The full Agreement should be available to Telstra employees next week.
Pay Offer
The pay rises in the Agreement are the same as those previously reported – 3.5%, 3% and 3% over the three years of the Agreement, with a further initial 2.37% for Category 1 EA employees to align their company rates with those on Part A of the ECAs.
Work stream employees will get these rises in full. Job Family employees may get more or less than the full rise depending on their performance.
Other payments will be available through current incentive schemes and performance-related bonuses.
Following the 23 August meeting between the CEPU and Telstra management to discuss the pay offer, Telstra has agreed to include specific commitments in relation to two such schemes – the Customer Satisfaction Bonus and Zing – in the agreement.
Other matters
There have been no major changes to proposed conditions of employment since the CEPU last reported to members.
The last few meetings have been spent largely in “tidying” up the Agreement. During this time, however, the CEPU has been able to negotiate some improvements to entitlements:
- We have clarified that members performing emergency duty on a public holiday are entitled to payments which reflect BOTH the public holiday penalty and the emergency duty rates.
- We have reached agreement that Network Construction employees can only be required to work special schedules (e.g. 3 weeks on 1 week off) if either individual or group flexibility arrangements are in place.
- We have gained a substantial increase in the number of hours available for delegates training and have had acknowledgement of a range of delegate entitlements included in the agreement.
A total package
The CEPU has always said that we would look at this Agreement as a total package and either recommend it to members – or not – on that basis.
On Wednesday 5 September, the CEPU Telecommunications Council agreed to recommend to Divisional Executive that the CEPU endorse the Agreement, subject to acceptable finalisation of a number of matters (including those mentioned above). The CEPU Divisional Executive is scheduled to meet on Monday 10 September to consider this recommendation.
What happens next?
Once Divisional Executive has determined its position on the EA, it will inform members and provide reasons for its decision together with a full explanation of the Agreement.
Under current law, however, the Enterprise Agreement is actually an agreement between Telstra and its employees, not between Telstra and the Telstra unions.
This means that once negotiations are concluded, it is up to Telstra to put the wheels in motion for a ballot of the approximately 20,000 employees who will initially be covered by the agreement. It is anticipate that the ballot for the agreement will be held by the end of the month.
Telstra has indicated that it intends to begin briefings of employees on the Agreement on 13 September. The CEPU will be participating in these briefings.
Members should contact the CEPU state office if they require further information about these sessions.
Your feedback
We encourage feedback from our members on these issues and if you would like to send in your comments, suggestions or questions, please reply to this email or email: feedback@cepu.org
If you require any further information or if you require a briefing at your workplace, please contact Branch Assistant Secretary Shane Murphy or Branch Official Peter O’Connell on (02) 9893 7822.
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