The Communications and Public Sector Union (CPSU), which was in discussions with the telco this morning, has released details of expected job losses, effective November 2, 2001.
Its Sydney operation is expected to shed 103 positions, Melbourne will cull 116 staff, 60 employees in Brisbane will be shown the door, as will 37 in Perth, 28 in Adelaide, three staff members based on the Gold Coast and four in ACT.
"Management have said the majority of redundancies will be effective November 2, subject to consultation with employees," a Union spokesperson told ZDNet Australia.
The Union has said that Hutchison will not be offering voluntary redundancies. -They prefer to target them based on business needs," the spokesperson said.
The Communications Union described today's meeting as -positive", saying Hutchison gave -solid undertakings to make sure people get paid".
The Union told ZDNet last week that it had concerns that there were inadequate provisions made for redundancies under worker's contracts.
As a result the CPSU lodged an application for an interim redundancy award with the Australian Industrial Relations Commission (AIRC) on Friday, which is -sitting in the background" in case Hutchison's undertakings aren't followed through, the Union said.
Hutchison has written to the CPSU stating -the redundancy package will include financial assistance, the payment of all statutory entitlements, outplacement and counselling," according to the Union, which also raised the possibility of job swaps as a means of limiting redundancies with Hutchison. -They said they'd take that on board," the spokesperson said.
In a statement today, Hutchison CEO Kevin Russell revealed which areas of the business would be affected by the redundancies, saying up to 111 positions might be made redundant on the Orange network business.
Russell also said the company aimed to redeploy 170 employees from its second generation to its third generation business, mainly in key technical areas of information technology and networks.
He also said that up to 240 positions supporting the GSM resale business may become redundant this year -as we close sales and customer service branch operations and reduce customer service call Centre staffing in the states outside of our CDMA licence areas - Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia".
-We are discussing this with our staff today and actively exploring potential re-deployment opportunities with them. Staff affected by this decision will of course receive their full entitlements. We have put together an equitable national redundancy program that is in excess of legal requirements in all states. We are also providing re-employment assistance, and for the next three months, 24 hour a day access to our Employee Assistance Program," Russell said.
