MEDIA RELEASE: ‘Disgraceful’ - Optus outage comes as jobs slashed across the country
The Union representing telecommunications workers says that today’s outage is an absolute disgrace – leaving some of the most vulnerable members of the community relying on landlines without emergency help.
The outage comes just after Optus announced the slashing of over 200 jobs in the last two months – impacting various parts of their network across the country. This brings total job cuts announced in the last 12 months to over 600.
Communication Workers Union (CWU) National Assistant Secretary James Perkins says “When you repeatedly slash jobs and outsource critical services to contracting companies – this is what happens.
“Australians deserve better than to have one of the major national carriers leave them in the dark for hours, with no answers.
“You cannot slash over 600 jobs in 12 months and not expect that to have an impact on services.
“The latest round of job cuts at Optus has left staff morale low – with hundreds of their peers now staring down Christmas and the New Year without a job. This is in the face of a serious cost of living crisis, rate rises and increasing household pressures.
“Slashing your workforce has a direct impact on quality of service – and we’re seeing the impact of that today.
“We are very concerned about vulnerable members of the community and their ability to access help and emergency services on their landlines. There are many elderly Australians who do not have a mobile phone, and this would be a very distressing day for them and their families.
“We call on Optus to walk back on their job cuts and make a commitment to their workforce of no more redundancies.
“The Australian community deserves better from Optus.”
Media contact: Amelia Brock, amelia.brock@essentialmedia.com.au , 0430 187 161
