SLD 10/202 - EMPLOYEES ON AWAs – NEW OPPORTUNITIES
A new situation is opening up slowly for employees in Telstra who are employed on AWAs.
This new situation contains opportunities, but it also contains some problems. This publication is to help you understand your rights and to help you pilot around the potential difficulties.
Background
Overwhelmingly the AWAs currently operating in Telstra are “WorkChoices” AWAs. That is, they are 5 year AWAs, entered into at the time that John Howard’s “WorkChoices” industrial laws were in place.
Just after the election of the Rudd Government in late 2007, Telstra management rushed to convince/pressure/mislead/panic Telstra employees into signing the 5 year “WorkChoices” AWAs in order to have them in place prior to the Rudd Government legislating to prevent any new AWAs, as Rudd promised they would in the 2007 federal election campaign.
Telstra successfully “locked” fifteen thousand or more employees into the 5 year WorkChoices AWAs, and thus they delayed for at least 5 years, the benefit of employees having the option to transfer to the EBA provided by the Rudd Government legislation. The only exception to this is employees on AWAs working in the Customer Field Workforce (CFW), who can revert to the EBA at any time of their choosing (not only after the AWA expiry date). This is a result of earlier representations and action from some time ago, that has now become part of the new EBA.
NEW TELSTRA ENTERPRISE BARGAINING AGREEMENT
The CEPU has just finalised an agreement with Telstra to protect/improve the pay and conditions of all Telstra employees who are employed on the union-negotiated collective enterprise agreement.
This agreement will also be important to people employed on AWAs, when their AWAs eventually reach their expiry date (late 2012 or early 2013 for most). The new agreement could be important earlier than those dates, depending on the circumstances.
Under the Labor Government’s laws, employees now have the right of choosing to transfer to the collective enterprise bargaining agreement or remaining on their AWA, once the expiry date of the AWA is reached. This is a choice which was not available to employees under the Howard Government’s “WorkChoices” laws.
Under “WorkChoices”, AWA based employees could never return to the collective agreement.
Under the new union-negotiated EBA there are some significant improvements for AWA based employees should they choose the EBA. To list them briefly:
· Almost all of the employment conditions and workplace rights enjoyed by the collective agreement employees will be guaranteed to employees transferring from their AWA to the EBA. Eg:
- all the redundancy agreement protective clauses will apply,
- the right to access Fair Work Australia (FWA) arbitration and be represented by the union will apply,
- overtime pay ,penalty payments, leave of various types, etc, is guaranteed and protected for most employees (there are some exemptions to this), rather than being subject to Telstra policy or decision,
- the union will have some input into the monitoring of the performance management process and performance bonus payments,
- the union will be consulted over change proposals affecting employees,
- access to “flexibility” clauses for work/family balance and for other reasons.
These improvements for AWA employees were won by the CEPU members’ actions in the EBA campaign, and through improvements to the law by the Rudd Government.
Of course, if you were on an AWA that expired prior to the registration of the union-negotiated collective EBA, you have the added option of being able to choose category 1 of the EBA if you wish.
You will also have the option of category 1once your AWA reaches its expiry date, if you work in the Technical Workforce (TW). You can choose category 1 at anytime if you are in the Customer Field Workforce (CFW). As part of our gains in the EBA if an employee in the CFW or TW chooses category 1 in the first instance, they have the option of going to category 2 and returning to category 1 within 12 months (a one-off only option).
Amongst other things, category 1 guarantees a 4% pay increase for 2010, and again for 2011, as opposed to “an October review” in category 2, where employees may receive no annual increase or a “less than the cost of living” increase. This of course is decided upon exclusively by management with absolutely no negotiation. Category 1 also guarantees a negotiated and agreed banding and classification system for your work.
An unfortunate aspect of the new collective EBA however, is that Telstra is still denying many employees on AWAs the right to choose category 1 of the EBA, when and if they wish to transfer to the EBA. These are employees who work in Customer Sales and Service, Technical Professional, and Support.
The union tried very hard to establish that right for those employees in the negotiations, however the management remained (and remains), true to the Howard Government’s “WorkChoices” principles, thus keeping most AWA employees away from the right to regularly negotiated/guaranteed annual wage increases and other benefits.
This will have to be an issue for future EBA campaigns and agreements.
IS YOUR WORKCHOICES AWA REGISTERED WITH THE FAIR WORK AUTHORITY?
We understand that there are Telstra employees on current AWAs, who would like to have the opportunity to transfer to the EBA prior to the 2012/2013 expiry date. Under normal conditions this can only be done by agreement between you and management. If you believe you have a case to end your AWA and transfer to the EBA prior to its nominal expiry date, (e.g. if you are disadvantaged by the AWA), contact the CEPU for advice.
However, on the off-chance that Telstra failed to register your AWA with the Workplace Authority in 2007/2008, when you signed up to the AWA (the employer was required by law to have the AWA registered with the Authority), you should send the following email to the Workplace Authority:
Attention: Peter Smith
Fair Work Australia
Agreement Unit
Dear Mr Smith
I am enquiring as to whether you have on record, a workplace agreement between myself and Telstra? Such an agreement should have been registered with you in late 2007 or early 2008.
[Full Name]
[Postal Address]
[Email Address]
[Telephone]
If by chance the AWA is not formally registered with the Authority, (apart from this being a breach of the law by Telstra), then your AWA would not be legitimate and it may be possible to transfer to the collective EBA sooner, rather than later.
Please notify the CEPU with any developments in this regard and we will help you decide on your options.
If your AWA has expired and you are considering exercising your option to transfer to the EBA, please contact the CEPU to help you examine the pay rates and other issues, to make sure you are not being disadvantaged.
Be careful of information on these issues given to you by Managers, as the information is often wrong and in some cases very “loaded” to suit the company’s interests.
AWAs DESIGNED FOR EMPLOYER “FLEXIBILITY”.
The Howard Government designed the AWAs to provide employers with a weapon to reduce workers’ wages and conditions. Telstra is currently using that weapon to once again limit or deny many AWA employees a wage increase in 2010 as they did in 2009.
Telstra’s strategy was and is to divide the workforce (e.g. AWAs, ECAs, EBAs) to weaken the EBA workforce in its endeavours to win a decent wage increase and to isolate the AWA workforce to cut their wages when it suited the company.
The entire workforce needs to unite to stop this becoming a long term trend.
Right from the start, Telstra has led employees to believe that they can’t or shouldn’t join the union or that the union can’t help them.
This was never and has never been true. Employees on AWAs have the right, protected by the law, to join a union.
Whether you are considering the short term or the longer term and you are on an AWA, you should join the CEPU to help protect your interests. Please think about it.
LEN COOPER
Branch Secretary
