Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.Victorian Trades Hall Council. The voice of Victorian workers since 1856.

Unions Protest Optus Sackings

 
Over 100 unionists and community supporters gathered outside Optus headquarters in Melbourne last Wednesday 12 April to protest the sacking of 70 workers by the telecommunications giant.
Union leaders said the sackings confirm their worst predictions of the impacts of the Federal Government’s Industrial Relations laws and urged the Minister to step in to protect the rights of employees.

The workers, mainly field technicians, received notices of termination via sms and were then invited to attend a free seminar on how to write a CV and apply for jobs as independent contractors with Optus. 

As independent contractors they would be paid lower rates and be required to pay their own superannuation, workers compensation, public liability insurance and cover the costs of a van, all materials and equipment.
The workers will also lose paid sick leave, public holidays and annual leave entitlements.

The costs of the van alone would be around $12,000 and workers would be around $300 per week worse off.
Thirty of the technicians are from Melbourne, twenty from Sydney, seven from Brisbane and the remainder are from Adelaide, Perth and other locations.

 
Victorian Trades Hall Council Secretary, Brian Boyd, urged the workers to stand firm against the company.
He said the union movement was monitoring employers across the board in terms of who was using the new IR laws.

He also called on workers in all workplaces to stay disciplined and ‘hold the line’ as the campaign against the legislation was building. He urged a big turn up at the next national day of protest on June 28.

ACTU President, Sharan Burrow, called on Workplace Relations Minister, Kevin Andrews, to clarify what is meant by ‘operational reasons’ under the act. 
"If this is operational reasons, if big business can get away with this, then every worker in Australia is vulnerable,’ she told the crowd.

Burt Blackburne, Assistant Secretary of the CEPU T&S Division, warned the sackings showed the true intentions of the new legislation. He said the laws had been crafted by the government to give businesses an unfair hold over working people.

 
Unions are seeking legal advice over the sackings.


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