Hutchison staff still in the dark

-We understand Hutchison was in discussions this morning with senior management," Communications and Public Sector Union (CPSU) assistant secretary, communications sector, Stephen Jones told ZDNet Australia. -Staff haven't been advised of anything yet."

However, the Union said it has -received an undertaking from [Hutchison] lawyers" that there will be no redundancies today.

The Union alerted ZDNet Australia on Friday morning that layoffs were likely today and had requested that the ailing telecoms player consult with Union officials prior to retrenchment announcements.

Hutchison has since agreed to consult with the Union when layoffs about to be made. -That hasn't happened as yet," Jones added.

The Communications Union has concerns with Hutchison's -mish-mash" of redundancy provisions for workers.

"Some staff are covered by agreements on redundancy payments, some staff aren't," Jones said.

The Union will decide by the end of the day if it will make an application to the Industrial Relations Commission for an interim redundancy award.

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If Hutchen is the same company ...Anonymous -- 29/10/01

If Hutchen is the same company as Orange, then they are in trouble! - You can no longer purchase a GSM mobile phone from any Orange shop (all the CDMA crap) - I had to wait for two hours on the phone to be told by some stuipid call center opperator that they could not help me.

They deserve to go ****-up.

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I have been in the unpredictab ...Ivan Muench -- 29/10/01

I have been in the unpredictable mobile phone industry for over 5 years now and have recently been offered a position as manager/merchandiser and marketer of a new retail outlet in the Gold Coast dealing exclusively with Orange. The investor of the shopfront has operated his own Orange dealership as an outbound business consultant for 7 years and has been persuaded into opening this shopfront under the false pretence that Hutchison is fully backed by their parent company Hutchison Whampoa. I have a copy of a media release dated 20th August 2001 to which I quote " Hutchison Telecoms is in a sound position and is backed by Hutchison Whampoa Limited. Hutchison Whampoa will support Hutchison in Australia to achieve its goal of becoming a significant participant in the wirefree market both in the short term with its Orange Mobile Business and into the future with 3G". I understand and accept Hutchison Australia going under however I am profoundly disgusted with the fact that my employer almost lost his life savings investing in a company that is going nowhere in signing a shopfront lease commiting him to over $130,000 in rent not to mention wages, utilities and other ongoing costs for the duration of the 3 year lease. If the recent revelations regarding Hutchison had have happened only 1 week later my employer would have signed his formal lease and be facing almost certain financial ruin. I believe that Hutchison acted in an extremely unethical manner by announcing their so called sound position. By the way, I also quit a secure job to experience this mess and now find myself canvassing businesses for another network just to make ends meet.

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If Orange goes broke then I am ...Anonymous -- 29/10/01

If Orange goes broke then I am having a bad run with telcos. First, XpressNet goes broke on me, then GlobalFreeway goes broke, then One.Tel goes broke.

It almost seems that every telco I touch goes broke.

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