Thodey effect: Union suspends action
Telstra's main union has today credited David Thodey for its decision to suspend further industrial action as the two head towards enterprise bargaining agreement (EBA) negotiations scheduled for 17 June.
"Since Telstra's prepared to resume talks, the CEPU Divisional Executive unanimously supports suspending the industrial action campaign to demonstrate our commitment to deliver positive and productive negotiations," Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union president Ed Husic said in a statement.
The decision has come earlier than expected, with the CEPU just two days ago saying it was "actively considering" an end to its action, but that it would unlikely make a decision until the next round of discussions on 17 June.
Today's decision means that all notices for pending industrial action is withdrawn, the CEPU said. However, the suspension is only temporary and hinges on the outcome of its upcoming EBA discussions.
"While there is still a long way to go to secure the good quality [enterprise bargaining agreement] that Telstra employees deserve, we want to give every chance possible for the talks to succeed," Husic explained of the union's decision.
Until today, the union and Telstra appeared to be stuck in a holding pattern after Thodey's offer of peace, which preceded an initial meeting between Telstra's human resources directors and the union last Friday.
Following that discussion, Telstra had been disappointed the union stuck to its course despite the telco's stated intent to negotiate in good faith with it, according to Len Cooper, Victorian Branch secretary of the CEPU.
Cooper said the action was continuing because the divisional executive was yet to make a decision, while it also feared Telstra might still attempt to negotiate a new agreement that in spirit was much the same as its non-union agreement.
The decision is likely a welcome reprieve for Telstra, which, according to the union, was attempting to deny that the industrial action was having any effect on its Next Generation Operations unit and its corporate clients. The union had published a lengthy list of Telstra's corporate clients that it alleged were affected by its action.
ZDNet.com.au is awaiting a response from Telstra to the union's decision.