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  Issue No 57 Official Organ of LaborNet 09 June 2000  

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News

Call (of Nature) Waiting for Telstra Workers

By Dermot Browne

Telstra call center staff wanting to use the toilet are being forced to raise their hands and seek management permission first, according to a stinging report into the agencies' practices.

The CPSU submission to the Telecommunications Service Inquiry is based on the experiences of hundreds of Telstra staff including call centre employees, IT specialists, engineers, researchers and administrators. It paints a worrying picture of a low morale / high stress workforce bullied into putting profit before people.

Stephen Jones, Assistant Sectretary of CPSU Communications Section, says, "The story in our submission is not a pretty story and is not a happy one. It shows Telstra staff are regularly disciplined for putting the customer before sales targets. Sick leave is queried as a matter of course.

"There are strictly enforced time limits on handling calls which mean staff are often forced to 'flick' troublesome or unprofitable calls by transferring the customer or hanging up. In one call centre, staff even have to raise their hand to go to the toilet."

One Telstra call-centre employee reckons staff spends too much of their day saying sorry. Complaints to Telstra have grown rapidly in recent years, yet people are increasing under pressure to get rid of 'whingeing' customers.

"I'm less likely to spend enough time with a problem customer who has queries ...because there's not much in it for me, nor Telstra I would suggest."

Another Telstra employee said, "We have statistical targets that we're obliged to meet. You always have in the back of your mind - hey, look, okay, I've got this amount of time to deal with this person or I'll blow out my average handling time, and it does detract from what we're able to do for people."

This problem particularly impacts on "low spend" customers like pensioners, who are regularly refused extensions on bill payments because of their low rate of telephone use.

The CPSU says the rapid decline in service standards was directly due to massive staff losses the corporation has endured since preparing for part-privatisation. And while there were also other issues at play, the simple fact was that there were no longer enough people on the ground to do the job properly

And who's to blame for this?

A recent staff survey, conducted by Telstra, showed that a mind-blowing 67 per cent of staff said they didn't have faith in senior management.

As an immediate step to turn this problem around, the CPSU is calling on Telstra and the Government to call off the 10,000 proposed job cuts announced earlier this year.

"Telstra workers are battling to do their best by the customer, against all odds. The casualty, of course, is customer service. An alarming number of employees say Australians just are not getting what they pay for and have a right to expect. What we need is more staff, not less," said Stephen Jones.

The CPSU submission can be found at

http://www.cpsu.org/submissions/telsub.zip. (zipped Word 97 file)


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*    Visit the CPSU

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*   Issue 57 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Cocky Labor
On the eve of State Conference, Country Labor convenor Tony Kelly outlines how Labor is stealing the ground from under the National Party's feet.
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*  Economics: Millenium Work Ethics - A New Social Partnership?
The future of work in the twenty-first century will be both provocative and challenging, according to Professor Russell Lansbury.
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*  Politics: Extracting the Digit
Labor's federal communications spokesman Stehpen Smith outlines the Party's position on the controversial datacasting legislation currently before Parliament.
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*  History: Hot Off the Press
Check out what's in the latest issue of Labour History - A Journal of Labour and Social History,
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*  International: The East Timor of Africa
Nobel laureate Jose Ramos Horta will this week tell a Sydney audience of the parallels between East Timor and the nation described as the last colony in Africa - the Western Sahara.
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*  Environment: MUA Snail Men Honoured
Brisbane wharfies Lehi Munday and Mal Monro look an unlikely Watson and Sherlock double, but their keen detective work has helped win the Southern Queensland MUA Branch two national environment awards.
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*  Satire: Howard Says 'Sorry'
In a startling apology to the Aboriginal community, Prime Minister John Howard said last night he was deeply sorry that he turned up to the Corroboree 2000 celebrations.
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*  Review: Front Stage and Pulp Fiction
The Waterfront War has made the transition from industrial showdown to cultural icon. Now it's inspiring artists.
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News
»  Rival Computer Deal Imminent
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»  Conference to Set New Ground Rules for Labor
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»  Call (of Nature) Waiting for Telstra Workers
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»  Democrats Come Through on Third Wave
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»  Joy's Bizarre Student Bid
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»  Commonwealth Bank Staff Strike
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»  Liberal Students Spark Uni Walk-Out
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»  Union Targets Asbestos Shonks
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»  Needle Stick Injury Sparks Waste Strike
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»  Security Guard Wins $100,000 in Back Pay
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»  Paddy Troy Memorial Prize
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»  Robbo for Post-Conference Smoko
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Columns
»  The Soapbox
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»  The Locker Room
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Tool Shed
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Letters to the editor
»  Casual Treatment
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»  Expo 2000 Opens with Violence Against Left
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»  Child Care Laws Should Go Further
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