Telstra vindicated on AWAs by workplace umpire
Telstra’s company-wide Australian Workplace Agreement (AWA) re-offer late last year has been vindicated by the independent workplace umpire.
The Workplace Ombudsman has announced its finding that Telstra did not apply duress to employees in the AWA re-offer, or to Communications Technicians in an offer of AWAs earlier in 2007.
The Ombudsman's eight month inquiry came after the union movement wrongly accused Telstra of breaking the law by forcing staff to sign AWAs.
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Telstra Human Resources GMD, Andrea Grant, talks about the Workplace Ombudsman announcement.
The Workplace Ombudsman will next week contact over 15,000 Telstra employees to confirm Telstra has been cleared of claims of duress and to thank those employees for their cooperation with its inquiry.
Telstra Group Managing Director Human Resources, Andrea Grant, said the claims made by the ACTU and unions have now been proved to be baseless.
"In November last year we gave all of our employees on AWAs the opportunity to renew their AWAs and achieve certainty around their employment terms and conditions over the next five years.
"We said at the time of the AWA re-offer that it was an employee’s choice to renew. We said that some employees would choose to renew their arrangements and some wouldn't. We said that it was the employee who got to choose - not Telstra and not a union - and that is the way it should be.
"The fact that the vast majority of employees exercised their choice to renew their AWAs demonstrates two things. First, we offer our people on individual contracts excellent terms and conditions. Second, as the independent umpire found, our employees can make up their own minds.
"In the media yesterday and even today, the ACTU and unions have continued pedaling the same old lines about Telstra – saying we forced 15,000 people onto AWAs during the re-offer process.
“We hope that the ACTU and unions can now respect the decision of the independent umpire and respect the decisions of our employees.
"I know many employees find it insulting that the unions think they are incapable of making adult decisions about their employment and I am pleased the Ombudsman has rejected the unions' position," Ms Grant said.