I work for Telstra and I would like the EA negotiations to proceed, without the hindrance of my Union "representatives" seeking to promote their own interests instead of mine

It's good Telstra's doing this out in the open. I'd like to see a response to the union claims at: http://www.cpsu.org.au/campaigns/news/8110.html

It's sad to see deliberate delaying tactics like this being employed by Telstra. Everything is hinging on the NBN decision and Telstra is unwilling to spend any money or commit to any wage deals and the staff are suffering as usual. The recent Employee Engagement Survey returned a very poor result for our group and moral is at an all time low. An unhappy workforce is not a productive workforce.

@Arthur: So you propose that Telstra should break the law and lose the NBN all together? Do you believe that that would make you happier in your job? I would find it more disturbing that the unions are using these talks to feather their own nest when their jobs and the purpose of the talks are supposed to be securing better pay and conditions for you. But hey, I guess its like they say, every ones gota have something to moan about. Mine is the missus not letting me pave the back yard so that I can get rid of the mower :(

I interpret the media release from Telstra Senior Management as saying that our they are protecting and acting in the best interest of Telstra Staff by ceasing negotiations as somewhat flawed. i would suggest that any bonus' would be riding on a lessening of pay and conditions in real terms, i thought there were two different sides at the negotiation table. we would be in for a very nice EA if it were the case that both sides wanted to give staff the best deal. just imagine the negotiations for a minute. Side A: We want the staff to have 3% pa, Side B: No No we will give them 4%, 3% is not enough, Side A: counters again with a higher amount. sounds ridiculous doesn't it. that's because it is. I wonder where we are headed now that the negotiations have ceased. I would like to know if and under what circumstances Telstra will go back to the table as the media release sounded like a permanent breakdown. Is this in fact the trigger needed for Telstra to head down a new industrial relations "plan b" path that has been sitting on the backburner waiting for the appropriate time to implement. We can now see all the finger pointing and "he said she said" arguements. In the end am quite over the patronising from both sides. State your position and insult me no further.

@Rick: The reason as given by Telstra in the release is that the union wasn't talking about employees wages, conditions or any thing to do with the employees. The union was trying to force Telstra to agree to 'side agreements'. which is illegal and immoral on the part of the unions. From what I understand Telstra only needs for the unions to talk about the employees without detouring into the political ambitions of the unions.

@Tony: My comments related to the outrageous statements by Telstra HR that they were trying to protect the pay and conditions of their staff. It now appears that the plan B was there all the time as was suspected. The employee collective agreement is no more than a group AWA. A very poor deal will be presented to staff and it will be a take it or leave it attitude as with the previous AWA's. As i understand it, staff will have a one on one with their manager (who has no capacity to negotiate any pay rise or conditions) this will be allegedly fed back to HR who will then deliver the new EA. I can certainly see, as a staff member, that i will be able to bargain equitably ... Me Vs The Telstra PR/HR/Legal juggernaught, i would say that would be a balanced negotiation. Telstra has said they will no longer deal with the union and will deal directly with the staff. As far as i am concerned my staff association represents me and the sheer arrogance of the senior HR people to say they will not deal with my nominated representative i find insulting and just another example of the arrogance displayed by a company who doesn't believe they are accountable to anyone. I am not a staunch unionist nor have i ever been, but i now see my pay and conditions being stripped away.

@ Tony: before we get sidetracked with the side agreements. reading the propaganda from both sides, it is pretty clear that Telstra is using this to whitewash their plans to implement the preferred individual agreements with the staff. After reading all the available propaganda from both sides i can only come up with the following: The Single Bargaining Unit/ACTU presented a draft document to Telstra Telstra said there are matters in this document that make it illegal and this is why The SBU/ACTU sent the docs to DEWR for comment and the doc was changed to comply with whatever it needed to. Telstra have been running to all who will listen and keep referring to the original document as being an illegal side agreement. this is dishonest as it appears the original document has now been modified and is no longer considered illegal and they should stop the spinning. Let me make it clear that I have no active association with the Union other than being a member as i wish to have them negotiate my pay and conditions and i pay for that service. i find that my employer refusing to negotiate with my nominated representative disgraceful. It is cl

Thanks for Telstra in protecting our rights from those bad bad unions. The unions have turned into a monster. Basically the Unions have looked after their own members and made sure the rest of us have as hard a time as possible getting ahead. Telstra had tabled for the unions’ consideration a proposal that would preserve important benefits of current EA employees, including existing: * redundancy pay; * grandfathering; * hours; * personal, annual, long service and parental leave; * penalties; and * allowances.