
Issue No 115		12 October 2001

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News

Optus Workers Entitlements Are Safe

Swift union action has secured Optus workers entitlements after the telco announced the first of what in what is expected to be a series of job cuts this week.

Singtel controlled Optus announced the sacking of 244 permanent employees and 100 contractors this week, with the sackings to take effect on Wednesday 17 October 2001.

These retrenchments accounted for approximately 20% of the sales, marketing and human resource functions in Optus.

During urgent meetings called by the CEPU with Optus, indications were received that further sackings from the remaining operational areas of Optus are likely to occur in 4 weeks.

The remaining areas comprise the Data and Business, Mobile and Consumer & Multimedia divisions of Optus. Optus indicated during the meeting that there is likely to be the same order of magnitude of sackings in these divisions.

"Should a 20% reduction in these divisions occur then up to 1600 Optus workers could be facing a bleak Christmas" said Mark Brownlow, CEPU Communications Division spokesperson. "This would have the same impact as OneTel dumping 1600 workers onto the job market earlier this year when it spectacularly collapsed" he also said.

Mr. Brownlow said "that any Optus worker who is sacked during this process will be guaranteed their entitlements through a union award with Optus and an enterprise agreement."

The union is pressing for a different process to be used in determining the next round of reductions by having the company call for volunteers once an area to be reduced in staff number has been identified. "This will lessen the impact on workers and reduce the shock to those Optus employees who have to bear the brunt of this cost cutting" said Mr. Brownlow.

"We were horrified to see distraught workers leaving Optus premises yesterday with boxes of personal belongings in their arms and tears rolling down their cheeks."

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  Issue 115 contents

Interview: Connecting the State
NSW IT minister Kim Yeadon is the man responsible for enabling the people of NSW. Here's how he's doing it.

Workplace: The Enemy Within
In the IT industry it's the recruiters who are earning the workers' ire, as our special correspondent explains.

Unions: From the Virtual Coalface
Computer programmer Vince Caughley argues there is a place for unions in the IT industry.

History: Conditions Precedent
Frank Bongiorno writes that the recent events off the coast of Christmas Island recall a story once told by Paul Hasluck.

International: Victims of Terrorism
Repression against trade unionists on the increase world wide, with 209 trade unionists assassinated last year, reveals ICFTU 2001 Survey.

Campaign Diary: Week One: Get Shorty
Labor's first week of campaigning was as an effort to gain attention from a nation rocked by the telvised war on terrorism.

Economics: Global Alliances
Ray Marcelo reports from India that the ILO is arguing that globalisation needs a worker and employer alliance.

Health: The Phantom Menace
Trade unions made an impact this week at an international congress In Melbourne in the global fight against AIDS.

Review: Rings of Confidence
In his study on the 2000 Olympics, Tony Webb argues that the government and unions reached a new level of cooperation.

Satire: Greens 'Quietly Unconfident' of Forming Government
A leaked memo from a senior member of the Greens reveals the party is unconfident of winning government on November 10.

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» Activists Notebook