The status of at least some of Telstra’s non-Union Employee Collective Agreements (ECAs) could be in doubt as a result of a successful case brought by the CEPU.

The Federal Court has ruled that employees at electrical company Blue Star Pacific were not given a reasonable opportunity to decide whether they wanted to accept a proposed ECA because they were not given sufficient opportunity to consider it collectively.

The company had initially scheduled a meeting so that employees could discuss the ECA proposal but the meeting was subsequently cancelled. The agreement was then put to a postal ballot and voted up.

Justice John Reeves accepted the argument put on behalf of the CEPU that the employees were not given a reasonable opportunity to discuss the agreement among themselves and that the ECA had consequently not been validly approved.

While the former Workplace Relations Act allowed employers to make AWAs on a one-to-one basis with employees, something more was required when making collective agreements, he said. He argued that the provisions of the Act obliged employers to provide employees with an “appropriate time and occasion to meet together as a group” to discuss any proposed ECA.

This issue was raised with Telstra during its recent ECA “campaign” and led to the company making arrangements such as phone hook-ups for at least some of its employees who were offered ECAs.  But some ECAs may have been “approved” without such opportunities being provided. Their legal status could now be in doubt.

The Telstra Unions are considering the implications of this judgement for those of their members who are now covered by ECAs and will be consulting with them before deciding on any further action.