Telstra CEO Sol Trujillo appeared on CNBC Asia this week to talk about various issues to do with the company. Of particular interest to CPSU members was what Mr Trujillo had to say about Telstra AWAs.Sol Trujillo: 'Our employees enter into these agreements voluntarily'
Not surprisingly, he's all for them and reckons everyone on one is too. "Our employees choose to enter into these agreements and they do it voluntarily," Mr Trujillo said.
So, has Mr Trujillo got it right? Do you like your AWA? Post your comments below
Read the interview with Sol here.
85 comments:
So, Sol thinks everyone on an AWA is happy with their lot? Has he asked every single peron on AWA in Telstra is this is the case? I'm sure some of them are - and good luck to them - but I'm also certain that many of them aren't.
AWA takes away the power to bargain with employers. Once you are stuck on them that is it. Collective bargaining as a group allows workers to keep rights and conditions within the workplace. Those on CB produce more than those on AWA. No way are they voluntary. These are forced for cost cutting exercises.
Obviously in the good ol' USA they have a very different interpretation of Voluntary, I would have thought that only offering the option of a job under a 20% sacrifice AWA or no employment with the company would be a deliberate action in removing any choice as to the terms of employment, added to this Telstra's " best practice" model on these rather suspect contracts is appalling, there so no negotiation involved. So I guess maybe he is correct - we do have a choice employment under draconian condition's or unemployment!
Time for a change Australia - Lets make our votes count - get rid of Howard - get rid of sol and his desire to monopolise the communication infrastructure =- give the public companies back to the public, no wonder we have such a ridiculous tax system - no where else to generate revenues for the nation now we have sold these valuable assets to the rich.
I voluntarily accepted an AWA when it was offered to me over seven years ago. While there have been some years where the pay rises have been below CPI, on balance I am very happy with my decision to accept an AWA, particularly the salary sacrifice options.
I believe that Telstra staff are strongly 'encouraged' to move onto an AWA, especially when moving to a new position within the company. At the moment I have managed to avoid the AWA as am still uncertain on whether it is benefitial to me. I have personally seen many friends move onto an AWA and the hassles they have gone through by it really being the only option for them to take on moving to the new job, and then having to negotiate conditions and salaries whereby they may not have the confidence or skill to do this, resulting in the employer ending up with what they wanted. It has also resulted in some disharmony within the work environment as people are now on differing payscales (due to negotiation), but doing the same work.
Yep I selected to go onto an AWA after I was made promises that have never been kept.
The grey areas are huge , the gole posts are continuously moved , I am made to feel I am never good enough that I must always do better and better to the point of stress
I have made attempts at trying to go back to award but HR stall and misinform on every move , My manager stalls , you cant get any info out of Telstra in comparing Award to AWA . NO way will I resign another AWA with Telstra ,
Try understanding the whole Telstra banding process , no one gets it.
We all know we are going to be approached to resign before the election. NO WAY
Well, there are many aspects of AWAs that are better than the Enterprise Agreements, and a few aspects that are worse. I chose an AWA because I felt that I was, on balance, better off on one. However, I know that people who join the company do not get this choice - it's the choice between not working for Telstra or working under an AWA.
- Andrew
Yes a number of people did volunteer to sign AWA's. However what has happened to people who did not? In some areas fo Telstra none of the people who did not volunteer for AWA's seem to work at Telstra anymore.
I have always considered Individual contracts of any type only suitable for specialist postions- whether mangergerial specialists (CEO's, Senior Excutive) or specialists such as IT, Engineering, or of course speicialist brought in for projects. Always voluntary of course. Never to be used for a collective agreement and never to be used where the power inbalance between the company and the individual was clearly morally unacceptable.
Voluntarily?
Yeah right!
More like:
"Your position no longer exists"
Followed by an offer of a new position, on an AWA...
AWAs are voluntary for existing employees, and in theory for new employees, but in practice, new employees are not offered any choice.
I am on an AWA. It was offered when I applied for a position that was akin to a promotion. I was not offered any other option but it was implied that it was there. The mood is that an option other than an AWA is not looked upon as progressive. However, being on an AWA I have seen more money and more options as to how I am renumerated. Last years bonus was very good to me. To date I have no complaints. Its more about the diminishing options if there was to be a bleak future.
My personal experience does not match these statements. We were presented with an AWA at the time of conversion from Temporary (i.e. Labour Hire firm employee) to Full Time Telstra Employee's. There was NO notification or alternative option presented. It was made very clear that you either signed an AWA or you didn't get the job.
The incentives that Sol mentions may apply for staff in sales area's however it is not included in the AWA's for staff in front of house or set task positions.
Further, staff in these positions are generally underpaid by 5-10K compared to staff on award. In one recent example a staff member moved roles within the team and was offered the position for $12K LESS than what the award postion is. The position id when checked on the intranet confirmed the salary range expected however this was defended on the basis of 'we can't raise your current salary by more than 10%'.
In my own role by comparison to other staff in the same role elsewhere and on award (or recently convered to AWA's) I am almost $20K under. When asking for salary review it is common to hear 'but you are on awa you need to negotiate this'.
AWA's have NO allowance for CPI increases and any increases are again at 'managers discretion'. The 'bonus' often does not match inflation and can vary from 2-4% depending on manager review. At the very least the AWA's should allow for a CPI index with any 'performance bonuses' to be on top of this to truly reward those doing the work.
Thankfully I have not been sick in the time since signing an AWA but I also have no 'saved' sick leave, its completetly at 'managers discretion'.
There was no right to discuss terms or conditions, the AWA contract was presented as this is it, take it or leave it.
Unfortunatetly, there was also no union information presented at the time that we had the right to make this choice, AWA V's Award.
It is possible that Sol is misinformed by the ambiquous survey's they ask us to take, how about simple question, "Do you like your AWA?", not do you believe your AWA is the best you can get. That sort of question leads people to say yes, because they have NO other option.
In summary I completely reject Sol's statement that employee's like AWA's, they are negative devices which are presented as the only option. If the company truly believes they are a good option give the choice to the employee, AWA V's Award, not a lot will take them as they are.
Every time I have been offered a AWA its been a generic one with absolutely no provisions for varying anything but the bottom line. Negotiation?
Staff enter into AWAs on a "voluntary" basis if you can call "take it or leave it and suffer the consequences" a voluntary basis. All AWA's are presented to staff as final. Staff are given absolutely no room for negotiation. Staff can not change any of the Telstra AWA conditions as presented to them. Sol must be visiting offshore call centres or talking to only the people the management know will give a "suckup" version of their conditions, not a truthful version which would see them quickly lose their jobs in some trumped up "restructuring" exercise.
My AWA is OK relative to award, but I am reliant on goodwill of my manager, and managers can be changed. More concerning is the fact I lost all idea of relativity to others. Although I think my AWA is probably OKish, I do not know that others doing the same job and achieving the same ouput are not better (or worse) rewarded. Because the access to this knowledge is onesided in favour of telstra, it destroys my bargaining position, and will therefore eventually leave me disadvantaged.
voluntarily? what a load of rubbish. There is a large amount of pressure put on individuals who take too long to sign or are debating whether too or not.
If these awa's are so good, why is it those in my department are waiting for the time to come so that they can go onto the EBA?
We can all put any spin on this issue. But the truth is NOT always out there.
Yes they are voluntary. But advertising a job and during interview advised, 'you must take an AWA if you want the role'.
There's voluntary and there's 'voluntary'
Don't believe all you read on the positives of AWA's. Spoken by someone on an AWA.
I love my AWA!
When I was offered permanent employment with Telstra I was presented with an AWA to sign and was not informed that I had a choice. Unfortunately for me I was not even aware of the choices available, so did not proactively investigate further to ensure the agreement suited my needs. For me, the only positive to being on AWA is Salary Sacrifice.
Well I am generally happy with things, and in truth the AWA is benefiting me, however I do feel that it was no choice about taking it.
At the moment I am a high achiever in the centre I work in, and as such, I am rewarded for being on the AWA, but again having a choice? I was part of an induction beginning of this year and the only option we were given, was the AWA... So basically the choice was take the AWA, or find other employment. Im sorry but if Sol says that we had a choice, let me see.. The choice to have employment and care for our families and be under the AWA, or find other employment. I say that we had no choice at all..
Again, I have to make it clear that it does benefit those who are high achievers, those who are struggling with targets etc, it does nothing but mean those people are having their hard earnt money taken off them.
Its not a fair system I believe, or at least a choice should be offered..
All new employees must go on to AWA's or they don't get the job.
Sol's definition of voluntary is I volunteer to go on a AWA or I volunteer not to work.
Promotions are based on merit and sucessful applicants are asked to go on AWA's. Some unsuccessful applicants want to stay on awards. Is this voluntary?
When I went for a promotion it was a case of, take the AWA or don't bother submitting a resume'!
I accepted AWA because it was the only option given to me for my salary to be aligned with colleagues who do the same job. I was very angry with this fact.
My manager advised me that my other option was to stay at the EA Band that I was on, even though I was paid much lower than my colleagues. I would still be given the same duties and same responsibilities as them.
During my AWA package offering process, there were no grounds for me to negotiate. All the clauses were generic. There is no such process in Telstra. However, this contract offered me was suppossedly an individual contract??
I would like to advise that I "DID NOT" voluntarily choose to be on an AWA contract, but in fact was advised by my manager at the time (who has since left the company) that signing the AWA contract would be a better outcome for me. I reluctantly signed the contract.
Not sure what the AWA contract really stands for anyhow. I have been with the company for almost 14 years, and in that time the following has occurred:
REMOVED 17% Annual leave loading
REMOVED flex time
REMOVED nine day fortnight
REMOVED work cover to and from work (including break time/s)
While all the above mentioned have been removed for me to access, I am now required to work a "set number of hours" while I am in the office.
I am also forced to take Annual Leave, when there is more than 4 weeks in advance and usually during the Christmas break when the Corporate office closes for 3 weeks.
All these decisions have been made by "Senior Level Management" while advising me this is a "better way for the company to operate"
Sol is right - well sort of anyway...
I've been offered AWA 3 times in the last 3 years and knocked it three times. I'm quite happy to sign an AWA - if I will benefit from it, however each time it was for less money that what I'm earning now, and there was NO option to negotiate. In this take it or leave it situation I had no choice but to leave it.
I have been on an AWA for three years and it as served me well in my flexible working arrangements and in the dollars that I see. I enjoy the rewards I receive from my AWA.
What anonymous said was correct
REMOVED 17% Annual leave loading
REMOVED flex time
REMOVED nine day fortnight
REMOVED work cover to and from work (including break time/s)
The above was removed after the Olympics and coming of a fix-end contract in 2000. I was also contributing 5% of my package to super; this was matched by Telstra on the EBA. This also stopped after I signed the AWA. A clause is also in place where you have to give 4 weeks warning or loose your entitlements upon leaving.
A choice should be given to all employees. I can get a fleet car under an AWA award where I can’t with an EBA.
Side note though, the cost of fleet cars has risen 33-40% since 2005. Blamed on the fuel rise during 2006. But insider told me fleet are trying to make a profit now, where as before it was a break even service run by the company and pitched as a 'Reward'. It was a reward back then, however not anymore. However, it’s still on the Rewards site.
A new Falcon (LPG) for two years is now $15000 P/A. It was $9500 in 2005/Early 2006. Fuel versions even more. A commodore is now $18-19k.
A friend at Customs - Fed govt employee is getting his fleet car our 2005 rates still. Customs hasn't caught onto Telstra's practice yet.
Voluntarily I don't think so does the term sign or have no job mean voluntarily not in my book.How any one can say they like there awa is beyond me when the monthly targets are always changing making it harder reach.
When sol came to our call centre, only management were allowed to attend. We were not permitted off the phones, and I dont know anybody whose opinion was actually sought. When I completed my "Employee Engagement Survey", I was bullied by the call centre manager who gave us minimal time to do it, and read what I was saying over my shoulder as I typed it. We asked to do the survey again, but our requests were ignored.
Bullying is standard management practice, as is disinformation. Morale is exceptionally bad in our call centre, and you dont have a choice about Awa's. You are required to put 25% of your wage at risk, and then they use that lost wage to employ more people on AWA's. There are only so many calls (potential sales) to go around. The more people they employ, the more wages you lose. And then they manipulate the sales targets so that people fail, and lose their "at risk" component.
If you speak negatively about Telstra, you are instantly dismissed, and immediately escorted out of the building. I have never worked in a worse environment, and it shows in the staff turnover, which in our area is at record levels. So bad in fact, that the plan is now to replace us with agency temps or outsource our work.
When I first commenced as a "Telstra" employee in January 2001, I was not given a "choice" to sign up on EA. If I wished to join the company, it had to be an AWA. When that contract ended, I was THEN given a choice to re-sign under EA or AWA. Both these options were made aware to me only by a CPSU representative, otherwise, I would not have heard of the EA option.
Sol has not visited our Centre, one of his Managers has (Deena Schiff) , BUT, she only met those people who are either too scared to speak up or were the brown noses of the centre. Even when she was in the "Tea Room" most of management were around her which intimidated those who would have liked to have spoken with her.
I appointed a bargaining agent when moving from the Telstra Award to the AWA; do you think Telstra wanted to negotiate my "individual" contract? Nope! "Here you go, take it or leave it!" was basically the answer.
I opted to go for the AWA because of the commission pay structure; there's no reason why Telstra can't pay a bonus for meeting extra on the Award; they just choose not to.
The sooner that AWA's are abolished the better I say.
FROM MY EXPERIENCES IN SPEAKING TO WORK COLLEGUES THAT ARE ON TELSTRA AWA’S IS THAT THE GENERAL ATTITUDES REGARDING “THEIR” AGREEMENTS IS NEGATIVE TO SAY THE LEAST.
I FOR ONE CANNOT UNDERSTAND WHERE SOL TRUJILLO CAN SAY THAT TELSTRA EMPLOYEES AGREE TO AWA’S VOLUNTARILY.
MOST OF THE COMMENTS I HAVE LISTENED TO REGARDING AWA’S IS THAT THE EMPLOYEE WAS TOLD THAT THEY HAD TWO OPTIONS, (1) TAKE AN AWA OR (2) FACE UNEMPOLYMENT.
IF THAT ISN’T MANAGEMENT “AWA” PRESSURE – WHAT IS?
I AM A UNION MEMBER AND PROUD OF IT AND MORE THAN HAPPY THAT MY CHOICE WAS TO STAY WITH THE UNION EBA.
When I "voluntarily" signed my AWA I was happy to do so because at the time it gave me more money as a trade-off for other conditions. I was given a verbal assurance that I would still be able to work on a flexible schedule to suit my family commitments. This worked fine until my human being two-up manager was replaced by a bitch who took away flexible working arrangements. She lives to work (she should get a life)and expects that all those under her should do the same. Like most people, I work to live, not live to work. I now work many more hours under much more stress. For this and many other reasons, the initial shine of the AWA has definitely gone very dull. The only long term beneficiaries of AWAs are high flyers like Sol who do not live in the real world and feed off the workers bees, and the company. The average worker bee is slowly and deceitfully being dudded with no recourse to redress. Once hooked by their voluntary AWA it is a case of "AWA or no job"
When i became permanent 3 years ago i had NO choice, it was AWA or no job! The laughable thing about AWAs is the idea of them being negogiatble. Perhaps if you are head of Macquarie bank or Eddie Maguire... but for employees of large companies there is zero negogiation.
Firstly, I'm not on an AWA. It has been offered & I have refused. The reasons I have refused are-
even though I will get a modest pay increase initially, there are no guarantees after that - the guy I used to work with (now retired) signed on the dotted, & his pay went backwards against the CPI every year after that.
There is not negotiation beyond "take it or leave it" . You are handed the contract to sign, & you either sign it or not, but the contents are not up for debate.
The benchmarks are all subjective i.e it's not 'if you process xyz requests then you'll get 5% additional'. It's more 'if we think you've done well then you'll get 5% additional'. It's way too rubbery, & it depends on whether your manager is a fair person (& even if they like you!).
Many things guaranteed in the award, like sick leave, are 'at managements descretion'. Likewise redundancy (& this is a big one for me, given that I've got 21 years service up) does not point to the Redundancy Agreement, but is 'as per Telstra's policy at the time'.
The main reason I've responded is that I take exception to Mr Trujillo making it sound like everyone is happy to sign AWA's. The bottom line is that people are signing them because it is their only chance for advancement - my refusing to sign an AWA means that I cannot progress beyond AO4. And all new employees have no option. An AWA is all that's offered to them (I'm not saying that they couldn't go on the Award if they asked. I don't know about that. But the Award is not mentioned to them).
CHOICE? THINK CAREFULLY
If you like your AWA don't vote for Labor at the next election... Labor plans to get rid of them. What choice will you have then? You will be forced onto a collective agreement that you may not want, that does not allow salary sacrificing and is totally inflexible. If you are a high achiever you will be paid exactly the same salary as non-performers that you have to "carry". What the? Even if you personally voted against an EBA, it would still apply to you anyway if it got up. Choice? Be careful what you wish for.
All in all I am happy with my AWA. I chose to sign it a few years ago, I'm earning more than I would on an EA and have more benefits in terms of salary sacrifice.
BUT... AWAs are supposed to be a negotiated contract and as many have mentioned this doesn't exist in Telstra, they are generic with no option for amendment.
In my view the method by which remuneration and yearly increases are calculated is also flawed. Having been in managerial roles where the remuneration budget is 'allocated' based on questionable criteria, I believe this part of the process needs a review.
During my twelve years at Telstra I have once spotted Ziggy at a distance when he came to our centre to unveil a plaque. If Sol came round for a chat about the AWA's it must have been when I was away on holiday!
No I didn't and have never met Sol,he hasn't dropped into our work area as yet !
As far as the AWA is concerned, it was put to me when I got my permanent position that I would be going onto an AWA - I thought that was part of the process. I didn't think I had much of a choice to do anything else.
Great viewing....
very timely....
Just hope the message gets through to the average punter!
I think sols been on the cactus juice again, the situation with awa s in Telstra is you don't have a choice, its take it or leave it, as our surveys earlier in the year prove, though there have been some changes to awas in our call centre , if you relinquish 20% of your awa you can earn unlimited bonuses, but to do this you have to sell 110 % of target to get your 20% back, although we did have one consultant this month earn $9000 in bonus after tax he got $4000 but even he said you couldn't do it continuosly you would be burnt out in a few months constantly chasing your targets
I will not sign an AWA. My rights are too important, and an AWA is too subjective.
Sol saying his staff sign AWAs 'voluntarily' is like saying Telstra submits broadband pricing schemes to the ACCC 'voluntarily'. They both do it because they have to - not because they like it.
I'm on AWA which was offered and I accepted. I know others who have not accepted and they are still happily working alongside me. It suited me and I'm very happy with what I've got and what it provides to me.
I joined Telstra last year in June and I wasnt given a choice to go AWA or EA. I was simply given a piece of paper and was told this is your contract this is what you have to sign. I know other people in my call centre were forced to sign AWA because they had a choice to go for EAs. But they were forced and 'sort of' bullied into signing AWAs by putting them on PIPs etc., but these are unconfirmed stories.
Voluntary!! What a joke.
You dont understand what its like to work for a mega company, who monitors employee emails, manipulates performance figures to penalize and strip performance bonuses from the outspoken. Who bully,intimidate and suspend HSE representatives with impugnity, who flatly refuse to discuss legitimate safety concerns, who only recognise those brownnoses prepared to dob in others and work in their own time, expecting total fanatical commitment to the company line while all the time paying the minimum they can get away with. It is an ugly ugly company, bent on misusing the internal disciplinary processes to get their way, and not one I would ever want my children working for. I will probably get sacked for saying this, because they have proven to me they are expert at monitoring private email submissions.. They are also experts at closing dissenting websites down. Go ahead and try it, Ive got a lot more to say..
It is correct that you can choose to move onto an AWA if you are not currently on one however new employees are certainly not given that choice. The choice they are given is to either sign the contract or continue looking for other work.
If Sol beleives the AWA's are voluntarily he should let staff migrate to award if they would like to. If he did this he would also show his commitment to diversity at work. Over to you Sol.
The AWA offer to me had clauses that relate to Telstra policy. Telstra policy change all the time. Anyone signing a AWA does not know what they are commiting to. Once Telstra have a critical mass of staff on AWA, they will be able to change Telstra policy without reference to any staff or union.
This is not the case at all, I have colleagues change position where they not been given a choice at all.
Incentive schemes for people to achieve higher incomes, this is untrue, the targets are so high as to me unachievable. In Telstra Country Wide Sales Eastern Region that is NSW only 9 of the 38 representatives are achieving 100% or above.
I commenced with Telstra Sales Force in 1989 and in real monetary terms I am working longer ours and earning less, and I am still under the old S170 pay plan and conditions.
They will not direct you to work longer hours but there is an "expectation from the company" quote from Brett Riley Executive Director Telstra Country Wide East that you will go that extra mile.
However people are working longer hours just to cope with the increase work load that is being place upon them, or they will literally drown in it.
The managers in Telstra today are managers of statistics and not managers of people.
Mr Trujillo may have been to call centres, or on trucks, but someone is definitely misinforming him and given the number of Managers on performance based contract and AWAs, I am sure that all Sol is going to hear is what Sol wants to hear.
You are a Yes man or you are an unemployed man.
They're your choices.
There is a lifecycle to an AWA in a Telstra Call Centre.
You choose AWA because nothing else is offered. Management touts that it contains a performance bonus option, and you are naive and have confidence in your abililty to outperform your peers. You are prepared to take a risk, and you hope that Telstra wont change their policy or your targets.
Mysteriously, you cant get anyone to tell you whether or not that happens...
For the first couple of months, you work to an initially low, but increasing sales target, because you are new, and still learning. You are lulled into thinking that the system is fair, and you are flattered by having the occasional $10 myers voucher left on your desk.
By the third month, you are working to your maximum, on full targets and now management ramp up the pressure.
The first thing they do, is to change the call routing so that one member of the team gets many more sales than the rest. Naturally, they deny this, and urge you all to work harder. You watch the "successful person" closely, and emulate him every day, but you just dont get the same type of calls as he does.
Management then say they need to silently monitor your calls so that they can help you perform better. Through this, your sales techniques are silently dissected and sales opportunities which can be automated, are channelled AWAY from you. You are never told this of course.
As a result, the volume of calls slowly diminishes, and the range of sales which you can claim are narrowed, bit by bit. Slowly your performance bonus vanishes.
By month 5, you dont meet your monthly targets for the first time, and you are asked to outline a performance plan, as to how you will improve. You are required to tell management, where you are failing, and what you will do to improve.
Under the guise of "improving your sales performance", you are subjected to a battery of additional training in receiving time consuming overflow work from other areas, which does nothing but reduce your sales opportunities further. You start working overtime to try and meet your targets. Some people start working in their own time.
Throughout months 6 to 8, sales opportunities are reduced further, and before you know it, you are told on a Friday afternoon (to exert the maximum psychological pressure over the weekend), that you are going to be required to attend your first disciplinary interview sometime the following week.
They refuse to tell you what it is you have done wrong, and they refuse to roster a workmate off the phones to accompany you into the interview.
You exit the first interview, feeling that you havent been listened to, and the targets are not fair. (Spot on.)
You feel bullied, humiliated and unappreciated.
So that month, you decide to pace yourself, and try to develop a more worldly perspective. You consider taking your first sick day. You ring up sick, but the call routing system routes your work to an industry partner somewhere in Australia, who then automatically bills your call centre for doing the work. As the call centre has also paid you a wage while sick, this doubling up of costs, substantially increases the call centre's running costs. As the margin between running costs and sales earnings is never permitted to reduce, it results in the centre's sales targets being raised, to follow the increased call centre running costs. When you return to work from sick leave, the sales targets are raised further as a result of your sickness, and your team are told that their performance has been affected by you taking sick leave.
Finally, there comes a point where the targets become unachievable for most workers there. They leave in waves, and are escorted from the building so that they cannot communicate with new trainees. This is the point where either the call centre closes,or is amalgamated with others.
Speaking negatively about telstra results in instant dismissal, so you keep your mouth shut until you can find alternative employment.
AWA's with a salary sacrifice component are dangerous, because it makes the employee vulnerable when Telstra changes policy. Telstra policy changes occur sometimes daily, always monthly, and the changes are designed to whittle away your performance bonus, and cause you to leave, so that the cycle can start again, with someone else who doesnt know what is in store for them.
Dont rely on policy or targets remaining unchanged, and certainly dont sign an AWA that includes it.
As my daughter said, "Mum there are many hidden reasons why Telstra policy changes, and you are expendable."
I WOULD PREFER TO BE COVERED WITH ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT BECAUSE IT PROTECTS MY RIGHTS AND INCOME & PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN GIVING ME THE FLEXIBILITY TO BALANCE FAMILY LIFE AND WORK. I WOULD NOT LIKE TO PUSH TO BE ON AWA.
Sol has NO idea of what his employees want.I work for Telstra and I have NEVER seen him come into the office to speak to staff - and he never will! Except for high level staff, who seem to get looked after very well, the normal workers are pressured into AWA contracts.
I'm a new empolyee of Telstra, the AWA does that really work I personally feel its not the right way to go yes you do have to rewards those who are doing well and productive making profit for the company. And those who are not producing should not be rewarded, and reward to be will be at "manager discretion" and they are making all new empolyee to be on AWA what does that mean any choice at all.
Yes there is choice, choice of go on AWA or leave the company and having 20% of your salary at risk I believe is not on, what would you say to this instead of having 20% of your salary at risk why not giving you the full amount but if you continue not performing the miminum requirement for period of time you get fired. At same time still reward those who do well good incentives. Having a set target or minimum requirement need to meet I believe is resonable what I feel is unreasonable is that when a company keep asking empolyeer continue increase the minimum require in order to get their full pay.
When a company now focus on customer first which is good idea but if the empolyee is not put first and many are not really satisfy with their work condition and payment, how would they give their best in customer service. As empolyee in order to get full pay we have to work as if there no tomorrow, high achieve may not feel the effect as of yet but what happen if the minimum performance requirement raise to an amount even high performer can't handle. I just started I dont know the in and out of the company detail how it operate so I can't tell if the minimum requirement is same for everyone or at individual level, if its at individul level it will be very hard.
And from department to department and different location within the same company yes all people who have to serve customer in one way or another have to have go through customer service training so when a customer contact anyone in the company, they will get same level of good service whoever they speak to. This is great idea, but what happen to training for managers, and give more approiate working environment and achieveable minimum performance level, and give incentive same across all department so that there would not vary from manager to manager.
What I feel one good way to handle this is have right amount of fun with that you will make people feel good when feel good about coming to work it generally reflect higher productivity and make more profit for the company. With incentive should state clearly across all Telstra have incentive system made up so its not at "manager descriction", If this system of AWA is going to benefit the life of empolyee it should be really beneficial not just for the company itself and for senior management.
At end of the day, most of us have bill to pay and life to live, and inflation comes in year after year I not sure if AWA taking 20% of your salary at risk mean if you dont meet the minimum requirement performance you dont get paid but you get to keep your job. Or if you dont meet it for certain amout of time you still can get fired, if thats the case if you still can get fired I dont see the point of having 20% of your pay at risk. I do understand from company point of view they only want high achiever and make profit for company, but at the end you dont want people to leave the company and continue to give bad comment out to others and degrate your reputation dont you.
Having say all that, does AWA mean Always Working for Australian or Aiming Weaking Australian... Its time we all Telstra emplyee dont matter if you benefit from this system or not we should have choice of EBA system or AWA from the first day of getting our empolyment contract. This way it will be fair and having both system explain in a fair way of benefit and disadvange of both system it would allow a better working enviroment when there is a TRUE CHOICE NOT A FORCED CHOICE of TAKE THE AWA SYSTEM OR LEAVE THE COMPANY.
When I was offered a permanent position with Telstra (I was a temp), I was told there was no option to choose to be on the award. As I believed that, i went ahead and signed a 3 year contract.
At first I was quite excited actually to be on the AWA as I consider my self to be a smart and hard worker. The idea of being rewarded on performance on a yearly basis really offered me the chance to kick off my career.
During my first year I showed enough initiative and dedication to recover almost $85K of monies Telstra had not billed for at the time (yes free Telstra services), and did not know about. This well researched 'discovery' also represented ongoing revenue of over $100K per year on top of the back charges that were recovered. At the same time, through my own skill, and countless hours worked at home (on my own time), I introduced enough time savings to cut my position down from 4 people per day, to about half a day for myself. Farly good effort I'd suggest.
At the same time (as I'd saved enough time to perform other tasks as well), I was taught other functions within the centre. Within weeks, I was performing tasks over 5 times quicker than the "Exceeding Expectations" benchmark.
At the same time my wife, who is from a foreign country, and I were going through an application for her to stay in the country, which was taking a long, long time. My Team Leader (at the time) was quite aware of the situation and we'd had many 1 on 1 conversations about this. We were going through quite a deal of stress, and at one stage that became too much for both of us, and we both had 3 days off on sick leave. My family will always come first I'm afraid, but I like to think I make up for any issues that may come from that in extra tme worked.
On my return from these days off I was immediately placed on a PIP and told I would not be paid for any more sick leave. At this point my TL had taken a set against me and was trying to force me out, either of the centre or the company, I've seen him do it before. I did not fight the PIP as I was not made aware of how serious it really was. It wasn't until I was recalled back to the team I worked for as a temp that the PIP was rubbished and all was settled. In fact I became the 2nd in charge for that team in no time at all.
I apologise for this being long-winded, but I think it's gold!
Now it's time for my first appraisal. I was "assessed" by the TL that had the issues with me (although he was no longer my TL) and he rated my performance as 'Most requirements achieved', and I was offered a sub 2% payrise for all of that unpaid work, and the recovered monies. I aplogise for not giving you the exact amount as the paper was ripped up as soon as I returned home.
The following day I was off to see the Centre Manager and negotiate (that's what an AWA is all about isn't it). Unfortunately, and you wouldn't believe how unlucky this is, that was the first day of his 3 week holiday to Canada. The 3 week window I had to 'negotiate' was taken up by my CM skiing.
On his return, in full knowledge it was all too late, I saw him and he told me due to the PIP, all the TLs in the area have agreed on the percentage payrise, and it was too late to do anything anyway.
It was subsequent to this that I became 2nd in charge of my new team, which I was requested to join. In fact, when the Team Leader position became available it was my old TL friend that blocked any chance I had of being appointed to the position. I was actually shocked he was bypassed in the decision of my becoming 2IC. But all of that's another story, it will be in my next book.
Come appraisal time in the following year, which by my standards was quite average (disillusion and all that), I was offered a payrise of about 4%, I think, ripped that one up as well - read on. I had already applied for, and been offered a position in another centre. this new position came with a 40% plus payrise, and I thought that might be about right, so I notified my CM I was moving on.
The story gets a bit twisted here, because after the first payrise and the PIP you'd expect he'd be glad to se me go. Not that easy I'm afraid, and I was kept back for an extra week in the attempt to train somebody, in another state - by phone. This was never going to be a success, and I made that clear at all times.
After moving on I received endless number of queries from my former work area and tried my hardest to keep up with that in my breaks from training. Even that wasn't enough and my new CM was contacted and it was arranged for me to spend a day with the area I had trained (by phone again) in the hope of clearing up their problems. We finished that day with confidence all was sorted and things would flow smoothly. Alas that was not the case, and I was again asked to spend 3 hours one morning showing the person, who originally trained me, how it was done. I stayed with her for 4 hours.
Since that time, my CM made it quite clear it wouldn't happen again, and I haven't heard from them since. Now I can get on with the job I'm being paid for.
That brings us to now, where I'm regularly doing 1-2 hours unpaid overtime a day, but at least the money is much better. My contract expires in October, I'm going to negotiate a salary that would reflect an EBA salary equivalent, plus an allowance for an extra 2 hours per week, and a modest 3% payrise. Surely not too much to ask, but when that is knocked on the head I will be advising them I will be speaking to the Union (thanks guys) and arranging for myself to be placed onto the EBA, where I will receive overtime for the extra work, an RDO every 2 weeks (yippee), as well as guaranteed sick pay (that accrues) and Leave Loading. How good is that!!!
So ends my story, sorry if I bored you at all, or whinged aloud when you have it far worse than I do. I just wanted to get this off my chest. The moral of the story is - be very careful when signing an AWA, they are not mandatory, nor is anything in them. Ponder this - the use of your manager's budget may well determine their payrise, your salary is part of their budget!
I am currently on award and changed within the first 12mths of my 7years at the company due to feeling less pressure and having more security and advantages overall. Even though I am not earning bonuses to the capacity I could on an AWA, I feel that the goals can be shifted with their contracts far to easily to suit and therefore would never go back.
I am under constant pressure to do so and on each occasion I have refused due to my feelings of the old and faithful original award conditions!
So I thought I would add to your survey and voice this opinion for you.
I wasn’t given a choice when I was employed. Oh wait a minute I was, AWA or nothing.
i have just started at telstra and i was never given another option. until i started and found out that not everyone was on an awa but hey i needed the job so it was take it or leave it so there was the choice and of course you take it and if it the only option ither then there is the door hey of course you take it...
AWA's are too secretive and manipulative to be counted as being succesfull in our modern workplace. Under one if your boss likes you, succeed, if your boss dislikes you, you WILL FAIL. We need to get rid of the HYENAS driving such management stalinism and kick their behinds out of our company, Australias company. Wake up and do something today!!!
If Sols stance on AWA's is that people volunteer for them then it opens up the great debate up as to what else the man misses everyday. The matter between his left ear and his right ear is obviousley lacking even to the uneducated.
Telstra Retail
Dictionary meaning: A short term place of employment, AWA focused. Email cocooned, make a splash then dash to higher ground, a nursery where you are told what to think and do or suffer, a shifting set of rules and obligations, a place of manipulated 'values'.
Would you recommend it?
AWA's, yeah, as an aussie bloke i reckon their kinda ok, if i work overtime i dont get paid for it, i get time in liew, so now my boss tells me when i can come or go for me extra effort, sure the missus has to work that bit harder now to make up the money i lost, but the kids when we see them seem happy, they are growen up with real aussie values, work hard, focus on your job, what your boss says or else your in trouble, bend over backwards, be a yesman and a yesgirl, dont ask the why question, dont think about the long term, just do your job or your gonna be finished...
Well I prefer to remain anon, as who knows who has access to this site, & do I trust Telstra enough to move from award to awa.
MMMM let me think but not for long. The last 2 times AWA was offered to me it looked quite attractive on paper, hey I was performing well, getting great score cards & would I like that carrot of a "bonus". Risking 20% of my pay to get those great score cards, seemed pretty easy, except, give up the months of accured sick leave & the other benifits of being award.
Hey lucky I didn' t sign on the dotted line, they have now made our targets & score cards so difficult to get I might not have a job after the PIP & PICM I will be on next month for not performing.
Stick AWA' s.
A company that rewards sales consultants with extra bonuses for selling low value (read cheaper, unreliable and shoddy) phones on high cost plans (rather than telling them about the good phones available on that plan), is fundamentally dishonest, and not acting in the best interests of their trusting customers.
If the company is prepared to deceive and short change customers in this way, what on earth makes you think they arent doing the same thing to its employees ?
I found this blog via the story in the Australian today.
As a customer, Telstra's AWA requirements that staff sell products every time a customer calls is VERY aggravating and is putting us off remaining with them as customers.
Unfortunately Optus' abuse of customers and staff via its Indian call centre is as bad (albeit in a different way).
At least now we know WHY it's happening. My husband called to query an item on our phone bill and the operator tried to convince us to switch to BigPond email. A second call led to someone trying to sell us BigPond Movies.
As a customer it is infuriating and I bet the call centre staff are copping even more abuse than previously. I'm really sorry for the staff. Good luck in fighting the good fight.
From the Telstra Intranet job vacancy site:
'Generally, successful applicants may elect to accept the role under either the individual contract arrangements or the relevant Enterprise Agreement. However, successful applicants for jobs that are not award covered may only be offered an individual contract. Staff members requiring more information about applying for an award or individual contract role, should speak with their manager.
No need to guess how many jobs that applies to - the only way I know that people have avoided the contracts did so by lying about it in the job interviews and only refusing the contracts once the job had been formally offered to them. (2 people)
Which is gutsy of them - but they were put under quite a bit of management pressure to back down.
I have luckily so far managed to stay on award - but any further job advancements / changes mean that my award would be taken away.
Sol is talking rubbish.
Helen
Seems to me it is about trust and value. I originally moved from an award to a common law contract many years ago as an Account Exec and have since moved to an AWA. Whilst I gave up some conditions the advantages have well and truly made up for it. At the end of the day if I deliver value to Telstra that is what will provide job security. I trust Telstra to do the right thing as they likewise have shown trust in me. Those who do not show faith in an employer can hardly complain when that same lack of faith is returned and they miss out on career advancement. I have no complaints about being on contract either common law ones previously or an AWA now.
When managed within the spirit and letter of the contract, AWAs can deliver great outcomes for both parties. This however relies on both the individual and the management acting in a spirit of goodwill and cooperation when it comes to setting performance targets, in the review process and in the annual remuneration review.
The problem is, based on experience, there is no meaninful negotiation, particularly in respect to remuneration, and there is too much power in the hands of the individual manager with no independent review of the fairness of the outcomes. Outcomes giving pay 'rises' both well below the CPI and what colleagues on the EA receive, is hardly what can be termed rewarding performance. . .the company needs to ensure individual managers are 'playing the game' and not using AWAs as a means of reducing cost
I know this is about being the AWA's (thank goodness I'm not on one & will never go on one), but I would like to know what you all think of this new policy HR have just decided to implement regarding having to stay in your current position for 24 months b4 you can apply for another position in the company, Telstra always (or should I say used to promote itself on being a company that encouraged workers to gain further skill & better themselves), I reckon it just another way for Management to bully us in to doing what's best for them, but may not necessarily be best for the worker. I know it's has affected me, I have recently been stopped by my Centre Manager in going for an interview in a another Centre for a position I applied for from the Careers website. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with this new so called policy that just appeared without any prior warning from HR
i think the introduction of the awa's was done very poorly. I'm on a awa where 30% of my wage is at risk. I'm so disappointed in the arrangement that i signed, firstly i was told its a trial for 3 months then you can decide, but it wasn't and now I'm stuck. Also, since I signed my life away the scorecards keep on changing, the targets are becoming harder and harder to achieve so my wage each month gets lower and lower. I'm really unhappy with the situation Telstra has but me in.
Sol, is in fairy land. When I first signed my AWA back in 1998 it was under duress. I was told that if I didn't sign, I wouldn't get the promotion. So I signed. At the beginning Telstra made an example out of people on AWA. Giving them 1 or 2% more in pay rises as compared to award employee's. This however has stopped in 2002 with a majority of AWA employee's now much worse off. I haven't had a significant payrise for the last 3 years. Infact out of the last 3 years my wage has increased a total of 2.6%, which is well below CPI. I am constantly being called to perform duties over and beyond my current pay scale with no financial reward. Leaving the remuneration decisions up to my boss, who prefers to reward his PA with significant pay rises, instead of the staff actually performing the duty seems to be the norm. Telstra use the lure of vehicles and salary sacrifice options. Do the sums and they don't add up. You can own a vehicle is half the time just by using conventinal methods. Also given the tax breaks over the last few years the option of a salary sacrifice vehicle is not very appealing. I am one of the lucky ones who signed my AWA before May2006. Telstra will have one shot at remunerating me properly come this years review. Should they not, then it is good bye AWA, hello Award. The award will put $5000 / PA in my pocket before any over time is added. It will give me leave loading as well and don't forget about that 9 day fortnight either. To you all who are contemplating going on an AWA. Do the math and make the decision with your head rather than be lured in by the promises of riches that just do not ever eventuate.
I was told by a manager who wanted me to sign a contract over 7 years ago that it was 'a shitty contract contract but screw one screw 'em all" Of course I am still on the EBA. Nothing's changed!!
Sol Trujillo is just a spin doctor, that's what he gets paid to say. Where does the average Joe have an opportunity to negotiate? Unless you have very sought after skills, you have no bargaining power, and so the employer can do whatever they want, it's a real market place, where the odds a stack against the weak. You can thank John Howard and the liberal party for a steady degradation of working conditions for the majority of workers. Howard's argument is that we have to do this to make Australia more competitive internationally, but that's another load of nonsense; as if we can compete fairly with Chinese workers being paid $US 50c an hour. Instead, what he should be doing, is telling the Chinese and others, to pay a fair dinkum living wage for millions of Chinese who are forced by circumstance into the most horiffic working conditions anywhere.
regarding the article about AWA's in Telstra workplace Sol is totally out of touch. I have recently been declined full time work by my centre due to the fact that I will not sign a current workplace AWA, my AWA is prior to 2006, therefore prior to workchoices. That same centre is currently doing its upmost to get current employees on EA's to swap over to AWA's these employees are not doing this voluntarily even after much persuasion, so eventually these same people,are ending up on a picm and the process as it stands is not followed. this is the only other way of getting rid of the EA's get rid of those on them. Also any new employees, which we've had a few of in the last year, are not being told until they are ready to go on the floor, that they need to sign an AWA and that upto 35% of their pay is performance based, i.e. they don't meet or exceed their targets(which they also do not get told about until going on the floor)they loose upto 35% of their base pay. I say upto because some of the newbies started on 20% sacrifice and the latest are on 35%. This type of system breeds unethical consultants who will do anything to meet targets.... great culture in the workplace.
This response by Sol is total crap, ask anyone in Telstra at the moment and they'll tell you "we have no choice" myself, personally I'd rather be on the award.
Anonymous said...
Work hours have been extended to 7pm in call centres. Those workers who have children in childcare have to pay $1.00 for every minute late for pick up after 6.00pm. In country areas there are no childcare centres open til 8.00pm. Can Sol influence the child care industry to stay open for his business purposes?? Telstra family values...what a joke. Who in their right mind signs a five year contract?? New recruits in our centre are told no AWA no job.
i am a Telstra Employee and have been told that if i dont sign a new AWA i will be moved back to a position that will be a classed as a demotion in my eyes but the new AWA will be less benifit to me ie Telstra can and will moved me from location to location with-out notice Sol we arent all signing these AWA because we want to where signing them because you have made most of us fearfull of our jobs if we dont i can as Sol how that is voluntarily?
How can an AWA be choice, when once your on one you cannot "choose" to go back to the EB agreement? Where is the choice in that. A collegue of mine just recently went for a position in Telstra. The AWA was proposed, he wanted flexibility in some areas, no it was one size fits all. Salary negotiation, worked out less that the current EBA. Also he was not offered the Enterprise Bargain(Agreement) option. Again no choice at all. Some might say why not Sol. Sol to be fair in this you have to offer both, otherwise there is no choice. The colleague also had it intimated that the AWA was it.
The "fair go" has gone. The only defense against further errosion of our negotiated rights is our Union.
Keep it up CPSU/CEPU. If your not a member, join up.
Before I went onto the AWA, manager's told me that once I was on an AWA, I could 'negotiate' my salary. The reality is there is very little room to negotiate. It is like pulling teeth. You would be lucky to get an annual pay rise of $1,500.
NEWS FLASH:
Telstra is 35 million dollars over budget through subsidizing CRAPPY next g handsets in phone plans, so "our objective girls, is to recover $35 million dollars this quarter." Sales staff now receive no Vos for selling phone plans under $40, so they wont waste their time doing them. Now customers will be forced to take Mobile Repayment option payments in addition to $40 plan repayments. The days of $20 OR $30 phone plans with free phones are now over.
To a sales consultant, it is now much MORE DIFFICULT TO REACH TARGETS, sell plans, phones and accessories individually. It will have a huge impact on bill analysis, configuration of phones purchased elsewhere, problem solving over WAP, SMS and MMS, and increase AHT. It has now become doubly hard to earn that AWA INCENTIVE. Yet another example of UNFAIR AND UNSTABLE TARGETS and putting the customer first eh ?
I actually stopped working at the Telstra outbound call centre in Sterling St Perth 4 weeks ago. I'd been there for just over a year.I can honestly say it was the worst job I have ever done.From the unrealistic targets and the ridiculous "Sales Incentive Plan" (SIP) to the extremely unhelpfull team leaders and deaf managment, I'd just had enough. Of the 17 people I started with in training, I was the last one left in 12 months they'd all gone! There seemed to be no interest from management that so many people are quitting.The amount of my ex colleagues on pikkums/pip's was staggering, they were handing them out it, seems every week to somebody.The last rumour that management spread via our stl's was the centre was under a realistic threat of closure because we were not hitting our campaign targets.Nothing like fear of loosing your job to get those sales up! .This was just another example of the way telstra likes to pressurise people. I could go on for hours but I'm sure you know more than most as they get up to. Anyway i'm now in a much more professional environment where the staff are seen as the most important asset but will never forget my time at Telstra!
Peter in W.A.
I was offered an A.W.A. last year, it offered me a substantial pay rise. up to $67215 (if my memory serves me correctly) currently $56515 (i think0 with grandfather allowance. my current sick leave entitlements are 1700 odd hours.That is put on hold currently if i wish to take a day because i am not feeling up to it I "ALWAYS PRODUCE A DOCTORS CERTIFICATE" but if that does not go far enough, i take a dat without a certificate.I work along side a lady that does catch up work during her lunch brake "BECAUSE I HAVE NO OTHER TIME". Another was forced to take lwop because it vis managers discretion. I would lose 5 days sick leave a year & have it at managers discretion. This lady is currently coming into the office with stuffed up nose, potentially spreading contagious germs around the office. NO I DO NOT LIKE A.W.A'S I refused to take my awa.
I ASK people to seriously look at what the good people of this country have voted for. The G.S.T. is dead in the water was broadcast on the news, he got in again so did the g.s.t. FOR AUSTRALIAS SAKE PEOPLE W A K E U P.
For those of you interested, in 1989i I joined TELECOM AUSTRALIA on a fixed term contract. It was renewed every 3 months, then after the 4th one management refused to appoint me & 5 others in my office in the same situation. TTHANKYOU C.P.S.U. (then p.s.u.) a rep went to my managers office for a meeting (in Melb)management advised SORRY WE DONT HAVE THE VAXANCIES. cpsu rep " OK WE WILL SEE YOU IN COURT" Iwas presented with a doc offering me on going employment (appointment) the very next working day
Sol and his lies. I was afford fulltime employment a few years ago. I was taken into the managers office & was taken thru the AWA contract offered to me. I was shown the differences between the Award & the AWA, then given a week to sign the agreement.
I asked to be put onto the Award & was advised that only the AWA contract was being offered for employment...not the Award. I was told that Telstra is puttig all employees on AWA's only.
A fellow colleague said the same things, asked to negoiate the contract being offer....the contract was torn up in front of him & he was SACKED that instant.
So much for ALL SOL's staff wanting to go on the AWA. It's AWA or the Door.
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