Enterprise Services restructure: Telstra notifies redundancies
Telstra has now formally notified the CWU of redundancies flowing from the Enterprise Services restructure that has been underway this year.
The number of eventual (net) job losses – 87 – is considerably higher than the 55 initially flagged by Telstra during consultations and the CWU is seeking an explanation from Telstra about the process that has led to this increase in numbers.
As reported in earlier E-bulletins, the redundancies stem from Telstra’s decision to centralise both the design and workflow management functions carried out within Enterprise Services while at the same time outsourcing what the company describes as “high volume, low complexity orders” to “industry partners”.
The restructure has also involved a reclassification of certain roles, most notably the internal designer role which the CWU continues to believe should be a CFW7, not a CFW6.
The CWU wrote to Telstra on 19 May outlining our arguments in relation to this question and spelling out what we consider are the implications of a correct grading of the designer role for other positions in Wideband ie the assigner and design excellence leads. Telstra responded on 29 May, rejecting the CWU’s position.
On 2 June, the CWU’s Divisional Executive authorised union officials to seek external legal advice in order to help determine how we might most effectively pursue this matter and get the best result for members. In the meantime, members affected by this reorganisation whether through redundancy, forced reassignment or successful application for a role are urged to contact their state branches so that the CWU can be sure it has an accurate picture of the outcomes of the exercise.
