Telstra, unions yet to talk pay

The Communications, Electricians and Plumbers Union (CEPU) says its talks with Telstra over establishing a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement are proceeding well, but the issue of pay hasn't been discussed yet.

The CEPU, which represents the bulk of Telstra's unionised staff, will meet with Telstra's human resources executives today to continue discussions around work conditions, CEPU president Ed Husic told ZDNet.com.au today. The scope of discussions relate to staff on an enterprise agreement (EA) and those on expired Australian Workplace Agreements (AWAs).

The two have been meeting on a weekly basis, said Husic, but the issue of pay has yet to be broached: "Pay will get discussed at the tail end," said Husic.

Husic today said that the union was "largely comfortable" with the systems used by Telstra to manage and assess performance of its workers. Other issues on the agenda include processes of making redundancies, such as the notice period, dispute settlement and maternity leave.

Telstra last month made a decision to freeze the fixed salary component of its top executives, while offering staff on AWAs a 2 per cent pay increase for the year. At the time, CEPU representatives said it hoped to achieve a pay rise of around 7 per cent.