UPDATE #14: Protected Industrial Action - Members at Telstra to have their say
CEPU/CWU members will be shortly given the opportunity to vote to engage in protected industrial action at Telstra.
Only a short time ago, employees forced Telstra back to the bargaining table after resoundingly rejecting their penny-pinching offer of a pay cut in real terms. And we have continued to bargain with Telstra in good faith – advancing your claims for a fair and equitable new EA at Telstra.
We’ve made great progress in some key areas, however Andy Penn-ypincher and his team are standing by their pay-cut wage offer. They won’t budge and the impasse needs to end.
CEPU/CWU members need a wage rise, not a pay cut. CEPU/CWU members deserve a fair wage rise that allows you and your family to continue to meet your financial obligations and put food on the table.
To advance your claims for a fair EA, your Union lodged an application for a ballot of members to vote to engage in legal, protected industrial action. Last week, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) granted our application and made orders for the ballot to be conducted over the Christmas / New Year period.
We quickly sought for the timetable to be varied to enable members to enjoy their breaks with their families over this period without fear of missing out on the opportunity to participate in this most important vote. The FWC has granted this and altered the timetable for a postal ballot to be conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC), in the following manner:
- Roll of eligible voters closes – Friday 18 January 2019
- Ballot opens – Monday 21 January 2019
- Ballot closes – Monday 25 February 2019
To be eligible to vote in the ballot, you must be a member of the CEPU/CWU.
Your YES vote is an opportunity for members to step up and show Telstra that you deserve to be treated fairly – that you deserve to be able to meet the rising cost of living to provide for your family.
Show them – it’s not acceptable to sack 9000 of your colleagues and make you take a pay cut while the executive group pays themselves 200 times more than you earn in a year.
More information will be forthcoming early in the new year. Until then, it’s important for all members to ask each and every one of their colleagues, who may not yet be members, to stand with you and join today. As the roll of eligible voters closes on 18 January, new members should join well before this date to ensure the AEC receive their information and verify their eligibility in time.
Yours faithfully, Greg Rayner,DIVISIONAL SECRETARY
