Husic warned the telco to expect industrial action the likes of which it has never seen before.
“This won’t be your garden variety industrial campaign. It will be targeted and strategic, and will involve certain elements of its workforce over certain periods of time. It will be rolling, it will be prolonged,” he said.
The unions say action will be aimed at Telstra and not its customers, with the first round of industrial action requiring members to refuse to work overtime, recalls and callbacks. It is slated to commence at 12.01am on Saturday, December 13, and conclude at 11.59pm on Sunday, December 14.
“You will see indefinite stoppages, 24 and 48 hour stoppages, you’ll see a whole range of things occur over the next few weeks,” Husic said, accusing Telstra of trying to break down the influence of unions in its workplace over the past decade.
The CEPU said the stoppages will be the first time in a decade that Telstra workers have taken industrial action against the company.
“While Telstra’s CEO secures a $13.4 million pay packet with little fuss, Telstra workers on $60,000 a year have had to struggle to get a fair agreement. That’s not right or fair,” the CEPU said in a statement.
“This shows that members won’t be bullied into breaking the relationship they have with their union, and they want to take a strong stand to demonstrate that,” Husic said.
