Bill F.
On April 5, several hundred workers and supporters marched through Melbourne to protest at an expected 700 job cuts in Telstra’s Sensis division which produces the White and Yellow Pages.
As well as workers from the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) and the Community and Public Sector Union, support came from the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union, the Finance Sector Union and the Australian Services Union.
Many of the jobs are slated to move to the Philippines and India, as print versions are to be phased out and replaced by digital, and some administration and sales jobs are to be handled by call centres.
At a rally at Parliament House, AMWU state secretary Steve Dargavel said, “We don't accept that Telstra has an argument to make these cuts… This is a business that is functional and profitable.” He pointed out that Telstra has just declared a record $1.6 billion half yearly profit, and that Sensis had earned $685 million in the previous year.
AMWU National Print Secretary Lorraine Cassin issued a warning to the Telstra and Sensis bosses, “… we’re not going to lie down, we are going to fight you.” She said that the union would alert the public to Telstra’s scheme to offshore skilled jobs and would enlist international support to expose the inferior pay and working conditions that Telstra wanted to take advantage of.
The ultimate insult to the workers was exposed by Sensis worker Paul Dwyer, who revealed that the company wanted to send him to India to train the very staff who will replace him.
Greens MP Adam Bandt pledged to introduce legislation into Parliament to obligate Telstra to produce the White and Yellow Pages in Australia.
This was the second rally on this dispute and will not be the last. It was well received by the public as many workers have similar concerns about their job security.
No comments:
Post a Comment