
Issue No 69		01 September 2000

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News

Staff Eye Telstra Prize

By Jim Marr (CPSU)

TELSTRA'S record profit announcement has galvanised unions in the build-up to one of the year's most important bargaining campaigns.

The company's enterprise bargaining agreement expires in December and unions have already filed a log of claims aimed at turning around the aggressive programme of chief executive, Ziggy Switkowski.

"We would like to see some of these profits lead to better pay, better services and more fulltime jobs," CPSU Communications Union assistant national secretary, Stephen Jones, said in reaction to last week's $4 billion profit announcement.

"The way Telstra treats staff at the moment you would think the company was on its last legs, not breaking profit records."

Negotiations with the 50.1 percent publicly-owned communications giant will be seen as a litmus test of how the trade union movement is faring in the new economy.

Operating in the fastest growing section of the Australian economy, Telstra has sought to use the first wave of Peter Reith's industrial changes to strike a more confrontational approach to unions and collective bargaining.

Fifty thousand Australians will be covered by the Telstra agreement, making it the largest in the country. Unions are claiming a 14 percent pay rise over two years with no reductions in conditions.

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Issue 69 contents

Interview: Global Warrior
International unions have won a game of political football with soccer`s hierarchy - and Aussie Tim Noonan is behind the victory.

History: King of Broken Hill
John Shields recounts the colourful life of William Sydney 'Shorty' O'Neil (1903-2000) and his place in the rich history of a remarkable town.

International: History Repeats At Firestone
More than 8,000 workers, members of the United Steelworkers of America (USWA), are set to strike at nine Bridgestone/Firestone plants in the United States at midnight tonight.

Politics: The Past We Need To Understand
In his Vincent Lingiari Memorial Lecture Malcolm Fraser retraces the path of Australian race relations and laments the terrible impasse we've reached.

Unions: Economic Democracy
Sharan Burrow on making Working Australia's money talk and reforming corporate culture for the 21st Century.

Satire: Another windscreen washer joins millionaire list
SYDNEY, Monday: After just a year in his new job, John Samuels has added his name to the burgeoning list of enterprising Australians who have made their fortunes by offering partial car-washing facilities in convenient inner city road-side locations.

Review: No Long Term
Much political commentary is about the global marketplace and the use of new technologies as hallmarks of the new capitalism. Richard Sennett investigates another dimension of change: new ways of organising time, particularly working time.

» New Benchmark In Bank Greed

» Olympics Deal Sparks Soccer Ball Victory

» Two Day Strike Hits BHP Mines

» Leightons, SOCOG Tremble Before Haka

» Hilton Hotels Limp As Strike Bites

» Wran Lends Boffins A Hand

» ACTU Meets Joy

» Barracks Workers Put The Pinch On Local MP

» Olympic Win For Taxi Drivers

» Australian Unions Keep Spotlight on Fiji

» Staff Eye Telstra Prize

» Dice Loaded Against American Workers

» NZ Union Federations Heal Split

» Pressure Mounts On Nike To Live Olympic Ideal