TPG Enterprise Agreement approved by Fair Work Commission
Following a majority of participating TPG Telecom Group employees voting to accept the new Enterprise Agreement, the Fair Work Commission has approved the Agreement, which will come into force from 3 March 2023 – expiring on 3 March 2026.
Despite securing hotly-contested improvements to the wage outcome, the Agreement was not one in which your Union could recommend to members.
Wage outcome still amounts to a pay cut, in real-terms
Workers know the cost of everything is increasing – from groceries and petrol to clothing, leisure and utilities. We’re all feeling the pinch. Unfortunately, under this Agreement, there is little relief ahead.
The Agreement guarantees a wage increase of just 4% in year-one, and 3% in years two and three, respectively.
The Consumer Price Index, the measure to determine the change in spending required for households to maintain a standard of living, is currently running at a rate of 7.8%. This means the pay outcome in the TPG EA will leave employees almost 4% short when trying to keep up with the cost of living in year-one. The gap subsequently widens in years two and three, as inflation is forecasted to continue to rise and the wage outcome shrinks.
Furthermore, TPG has insisted on maintaining a wages threshold in order to become eligible for guaranteed wage rises in 2024 and 2025. For example, if a Level 1 employee’s gross annual earnings for 2023, including gross commissions and bonuses, equals or exceeds $78,000, they will not receive a guaranteed pay rise in 2024. Similar thresholds apply across all classification levels.
TPG will be held to account
Despite its shortcomings, the Union will ensure the entitlements owed to members by the Agreement are enforced.
The first pay rise due under the Agreement will be payable in the first full pay-period following March 1 2023. Members are encouraged to contact the Union immediately, should this pay rise not be reflected in your pay.
Join the CWU to improve these conditions
Now is the time to join your Union.
TPG workers and their families deserve better. With only 60% participating in this vote, and only 68% of those voting to accept it, it is clear that this Agreement falls short of providing the wage outcomes and the conditions of employment that our members deserve.
The only way to improve these conditions at the bargaining table during the next round of negotiations is to build our strength as a Union, together. We can’t do it without you.
If you are not yet a member, join now by scanning the QR code.
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