Tuesday 26 April 2009

The CEPU is vowing to fight the Customer Call Centre job cuts announced last week.

After sitting on their hands for years, Australia Post announced with lightening speed—in one afternoon—to smash 285 call centre worker jobs across Australia with 181 of those in NSW alone.

And instead of working with the Union to find other ways to approach the restructuring of it’s call centre function Post decided that now—in a recession—is the best time to throw its employees out of their existing employment.

By making this decision without any input and/or proper consultation from the Union, Post has broken their own industrial agreements—agreements that tell them, they must consult and give Unions a chance to “influence their decision” - before the decision is made.

This is the current attitude that has gripped senior management in Australia Post. We’ve written to Post letting them know exactly how we feel.

They have been recently hauled in front of courts about this and measures have been taken to prevent them from making snap decisions that affect the livelihoods of their employees.

What is especially disgraceful about this is that the Managing Director of Post vowed to the Union in February this year that this abysmal approach to consultation would stop. We ask members to measure Post’s words against Post’s actions. It’s classic Australia Post behaviour, saying one thing and doing another.

Key Points:

• Post told call centre workers about the job cuts at the same time we were told.
   

• Post has been working on this plan for months, but withheld information from the Union about what was happening.
   

• In February this year, national officials of the Union asked Post what was happening—Post replied that NO DECISION HAD BEEN MADE ABOUT RATIONALISATION OF THE CENTRES.
   

• Two weeks ago NSW Branch Officials asked management what was happening with the call centre in Sydney and management pretended not to know about anything that would  be happening to the centre.
   

• Post’s letter to the Union focussed on the good news about 137 jobs to be created in Melbourne’s call centre. That is good news—but did they give any information about the jobs of current employees? No. 285 jobs in total will be cut.
   

• We’ve called for urgent discussions to be held with Post about why it is doing this now.
   

• The Union's absolute focus will be to save jobs for Union members who want them

181 positions at the Sydney Customer Contact Centre have been identified as affected.

Employees should not engage in any discussion with management regarding their intentions following this announcement without the presence of a CEPU representative or Official.

Sydney Customer Contact Centre workers who require assistance and/or advice from the Union should join the CEPU as soon as possible, if they have not already.

Fixed term contract workers who are not already CEPU members should especially join as soon as possible to have a contract review conducted by the Union to ensure Australia Post has abided by its various contractual obligations, in particular its obligation to offer permanent employment after certain periods of continuous fixed term employment.

Sydney Customer Contact Centre employees can join the CEPU online by clicking here or can arrange their application by contacting Branch President Susan Sheather or Branch Official Nathan Metcher on (02) 9893 7822.