Brad Norington | August 07, 2008
TELSTRA is justifying a decision to bypass unions in future wage negotiations by accusing them of "dishonesty" over documents submitted to the Rudd Government's Department of Workplace Relations for official assessment.
The attack on union credibility is the latest salvo in a heated industrial battle as Telstra seeks direct talks with staff for a non-union agreement.Telstra spokesman Martin Barr yesterday accused the ACTU leadership and communications unions of telling "blatant whoppers" by claiming they had never tried to involve the telco in an agreement that was unlawful.
Mr Barr said side-agreements submitted by unions to the Department of Workplace Relations were found to have breached the nation's construction code in more than 50 ways.
He said the ACTU and unions had instead publicly trumpeted a subsequent amended document not even given to Telstra during negotiations as the reason why the company should return to the bargaining table.
Telstra's decision to sidestep unions by starting direct talks with employees follows a breakdown of negotiations that began in May over terms for a "side agreement" detailing the basis for a future company relationship with unions.
As the biggest individual user of Australian Workplace Agreements and other forms of individual non-union employment contracts, Telstra has signed up about two-thirds of its 32,000 workforce to such agreements.
The ACTU claims Telstra is looking for ways to avoid unions and sign up all workers to non-union deals given that labour laws passed earlier this year ban further AWAs.
The ACTU sought advice from the Department of Workplace Relations after Telstra's lawyers declared that a proposed union "Constructive Relationship Agreement" and further "Memorandum of Understanding" contained prohibited content.
According to Telstra, the prohibited content breached the construction code and therefore would have prevented the telco from bidding for the contract to build the national broadband network, which it badly wants.
A letter to Telstra from the department dated yesterday says an amended version of the proposed union MoU does comply with the code, but it also says the document has no status because it is a "draft only".
The ACTU returned fire, accusing Telstra of "outright deception" by searching for ways to avoid dealing with unions. Secretary Jeff Lawrence said unions had been completely honest.