Communication Workers Union

As reported previously, the CEPU is in dispute with Telstra regarding the clauses within the EBA which purportedly allow for the purchase of extra annual leave.

Because Telstra policy placed/places an application deadline on the purchase, it in effect means that the purchase of extra annual leave clauses in the EBA are denied to EBA employees until the second year of the agreement.

The CEPU notified a dispute in Fair Work Australia (FWA) following the failure of negotiations on the matter at the various levels of Telstra Management.

The matter was conciliated before Fair Work Australia, without success or resolution. The CEPU has asked for the matter to be arbitrated and decided upon by FWA.

Whilst your employer can “request” that you work on a public holiday you have the right to “reasonably refuse” that request.  The following summarises the position in law

If the request is reasonable, an employer may ask their employees to work on a public holiday.

The employer must consider the factors listed below when asking an employee to work on a public holiday:

The nature of your business (including its operational requirements)  

CEPU FLOOD ASSISTANCE
Floods in Queensland, NSW and now Victoria are having a major impact on a number of regional towns and cities, and the Victorian T&S Branch Committee of Management has decided to initiate a "Flood Relief Fund" for flood affected CEPU members, on a national basis. Other CEPU state branches are currently considering similar motions of support This small fund (based on $1 a member) will hopefully be expanded across Australia, and be administered under the auspices of the Divisional President and Divisional Secretary.

We have also been asked to advertise for some volunteers to staff the ACTU Call Centre phones, to help with matching emergency accommodation offers to those affected.

If you wish to transfer to the Enterprise Agreement you must:

• Know your rights.

• Beware of any self serving nonsense from your managers and their HR managers on the issue.

If your AWA had reached or was beyond its expiry date prior to the commencement of the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement, you are guaranteed the right by law to move to the EBA if you are in a part of the business covered by an EBA. Do not accept any management filibustering on this issue. If you want to move you can and any artificial barriers put in your way by management is a breach of the law.

It appears that Telstra Management is pushing some of its employees to sign common law contracts which purport to govern employment conditions and wages.

Telstra is choosing the common law contract option because it no longer has access to new AWAs (Australian Workplace Agreements) or ITEAs (Individual Transitional Employment Agreements), because the Federal Government’s Fair Work Act has stopped any new AWAs or ITEAs. The only individual contract option available to employers now is a common law contract. In addition, they are still attempting to avoid putting employees on the EBA.

What are some of the problems with common law contracts?

The Union office, by using your collective buyng power, has finalised a series of insurance products at 'Mates Rates' which will save members hundreds of dollars.  Check it out  <<Link to Site>>

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