Issue No 102 | 13 July 2001 | |
NewsTelstra Halts Latest Privatisation PlansBy Dale Keeling
Communications Union officials have hailed the announcement that Telstra will not be selling off its construction arm, NDC, as a victory for sanity. They have also called on Telstra and the Government to ensure that the company is retained intact to work on network modernisation. The President of the Communications Division of the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union, Colin Cooper, said that the union welcomed the decision. "We have been campaigning against an NDC sell-off for months", Mr. Cooper said." The company represents a core skill base for Telstra and for the whole nation. It should always have been retained within the company." "There was also no doubt that a lot of those skills would have been stripped out of the company if it had been sold off. The short-term commercial pressures operating on the construction industry would have seen to that.' "The losses would have been felt particularly keenly in regional areas, where many of the NDC staff are based." "The challenge now is to see that the skill base represented by NDC is kept intact. There is of course a downturn in the industry - that's one of the reasons the sale fell through. But there's still plenty of work to the done on the national network - especially if we want to be a Knowledge Nation - and these are the people best able to do it." CEO resigns An announcement to the stock exchange is expected today confirming that the proposed deal between Telstra and Leightons for the purchase of NDC Ltd. has fallen through. At the same time NDC Ltd. CEO Bob Pentecost has announced his resignation from NDC Ltd. His place has been taken by Senior Telstra Manager, Phil Hastings. The CEPU is seeking urgent talks with senior Telstra management in a bid to secure ongoing employment for all NDC Ltd. CEPU members. It is the view of the CEPU that there is more than enough work available through E71s, deferred applicants and the upgrading of the deteriorating Telstra network to ensure ongoing employment of all NDC CEPU members.
|
Interview: Jolly Green Giant Senator Bob Brown on the upcoming federal poll, balances of power and what the Greens can teach the trade union movement. Workplace: Call Centre Takeover Theresa Davison brings us this real-life story from the coal face of the call centre industry. E-Change: 1.2 Community � The Ultimate Network Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel look at the potential for network technologies to reconnect communities. International: Child's Play Union Aid Abroad-APHEDA has recently entered a new alliance with the Child Labour Schools Company to support a project for child labourers in India. History: Flowers to the Rebels Faded With the departure of our own Wobbly, a look at the development of the Wobblies in Australia and their view of Labor politicians and the work ethic seems timely. East Timor: A Dirty Little War In this extract from his new book, John Martinkus recounts the scenes in Dili immediately following the independence ballot. Satire: Telstra Share Failure Ends City-Bush Divide: Everybody Screwed Equally Communications Minister Richard Alston today claimed that the government had fulfilled its promise to ensure that the bush was not disproportionately disadvantaged by Telstra's privatisation. Review: Cheesy Management Currently climbing Australian best-seller lists is the 'life-changing' motivational book 'Who Moved My Cheese?' Rowan Cahill has a nibble but doesn't like the taste.
Notice Board View entire latest issue
|
© 1999-2000 Labor Council of NSW LaborNET is a resource for the labour movement provided by the Labor Council of NSW URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/102/news6_telstra.htmlLast Modified: 15 Nov 2005 [ Privacy Statement | Disclaimer | Credits ] LaborNET is proudly created, designed and programmed by Social Change Online for the Labor Council of NSW |