Telstra To Negotiate With Unions

May 28 2009 - Following the departure of belligerent Telstra chief executive Sol Trujillo, the new CEO, David Thodey, apparently signalled a more concilatory approach to employee relations in an email sent to members of Telstra staff. According to the Communications, Electrical, Plumbing Union, David Thodey wrote that the company would commence "good-faith bargaining" and begin to negotiate new enterprise agreements from July 1:

"Our aim is to reach a new enterprise agreement that is equitable for both Telstra and our employees. We are committed to treating you and your bargaining representatives with respect, and we will be consulting with Telstra unions ahead of the formal bargaining process."

ACTU Secretary Jeff Lawrence said that it showed that workers must always be treated with respect and that the decision by Telstra management was long overdue and an admission that the aggressive and confrontational strategy of the previous Telstra management headed by Sol Trujillo and Donald McGauchie had been a dismal failure.

Jeff Lawrence said:

"Telstra is a major Australian company and yet its standing in the community and its performance as a business have both declined significantly in recent years as a result of the company's belligerent approach to all and sundry.

"The decision to acknowledge the right of employees to be represented by their union is a vindication of the stand taken by staff against the company's unethical behaviour in negotiations.

"Thousands of Telstra workers stood up to defend their rights and voted to reject the repeated attempts by management to pressure them into sub-standard job contracts.

"Telstra management broke off all negotiations with unions in August last year, and subsequently embarked on a blatant strategy to divide its workforce into different classes of employees.

"It was only a matter of time before management would realise its hardline stance was untenable, and the only surprise is it has taken so long.

"This is only a first step towards a fair and rewarding agreement for all Telstra employees.

"Thousands of Telstra employees have not had a pay rise for almost two years and we look forward to sitting down with the new management as soon as possible.

"A new enterprise agreement must be an option for all staff, including those on Australian Workplace Agreements that are yet to expire, and those who had been forced onto non-union agreements in recent months.

"New federal IR laws which begin in July will strengthen workers' rights to collective bargaining and outlaw bad faith and capricious behaviour - so clearly the writing was on the wall for Telstra.

"This decision sends a clear message to employers all around Australia that they must respect fundamental workers' rights to collective bargaining and union membership."

Meanwhile, according to The Age, Sol Trujillo went back to the US proclaiming that Australia was racist (he is of Mexican origin) and that working in Australia was like 'stepping back in time', citing Prime Minister's 'adios' as an example of a racist remark.