Union officials are looking to pin down management at Telstra Enterprise Services for a pow-wow over the integration of the company back into Telstra and its concerns for the fate of the organisation's 1300 workers.

The telco giant announced on June 4 that the full integration of Telstra Enterprise Services (TES) back into Telstra would be completed by the end of the year. Whilst TES concedes there will be some duplication of jobs and a need to make some redundancies, it is yet to reveal the extent of the job cuts, leaving workers in a state of limbo.

Communications and Public Sector Union (CPSU) assistant secretary, communications sector, Stephen Jones, told ZDNet Australia that the purpose of the planned talks is to -minimise redundancies" and to get the company -to justify any". Of utmost concern, he said, is -what conditions the workers go back to Telstra on".

In a bulletin sent out to its members, the CPSU said: -Many important questions about the transition remain unanswered, such as will you have to apply for your jobs in Telstra and will your past years of service be carried over, especially for those who are ex-Telstra." Fifty percent of TES' initial headcount were employees transitioned from the national incumbent carrier and about 400 more have been transferred from Telstra since, according to a company source.

"All TES has indicated at this stage is that up to 60 employees from corporate areas, such as legal and marketing, are likely to be made redundant in the next two months. CPSU will find out from TES how the integration process will work and whether they anticipate further impacts on jobs," the Union's message to TES workers also said.

According to the company source, an ex-Telstra employee, staff moral is -very low" and the Union's concerns of staff having to apply for jobs and recognition of prior service and accrued entitlements being carried over reflect those of the workers themselves.

"These are major concerns as last time we all had to apply for our jobs and people who were not in management's 'good books' didn't make it, though they were some of the most capable people we had in some cases. It gave management an opportunity to cull staff while avoiding workplace legal issues such as notice and appeal periods," the source claimed.

The source also believes TES staff transitioned back to Telstra will lose their sick pay entitlements. -Telstra has two weeks full pay, two weeks half pay. TES has 12 months sick leave per two years service," he pointed out. He also said that when Telstra staff were transitioned to TES initially, past years' service was carried over, however -they are balking right now about taking [past years' service] back," he said.

The source also confirmed what ZDNet Australia previously reported, about staff informally being told to look for new jobs. -A group of people in SA Service Centre were even passed names of people to call who might be able to offer them a job," he said.

But the real questions, the source said, revolve around why this integration is happening. -TES was 'pushing' a new course in the IT industry - we all thought they couldn't do it, but management said they could. Then suddenly after a board meeting the 'vision' was cancelled...and TES was no more, firmly back under the secure hand of Telstra. Sound suspect? Most staff I have spoken to agree - mis-management has forced Telstra's hand in bringing us back into the fold, which was highlighted with our latest financials, which were 'no where near target'."

Telstra, however, maintains that the reasoning behind the integration is to create a one-stop-shop for customers looking for a managed services solution. A Telstra spokesperson told ZDNet Australia in a previous interview that TES provides a -highly engaged" managed services model, such as desktop management for National Australia Bank and Qantas, whilst Telstra provides hosting and network management services. The essence behind the integration, he said, was to aggregate the best practices from each organisation and make it less confusing for customers.

Telstra said that meetings with Union officials hadn't yet been confirmed, and the company spokesperson today said: "the thing is, the CPSU has very little coverage of TES at all".

The spokesperson said he could not confirm Union claims that 60 employees from legal and marketing divisions are likely to be made redundant in the next two months. "There are certainly up to 60 people in these areas but whether or not they'll be made redundant is still under consideration," the spokesperson said.

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