NBN START OF DAY CASE

The NBN Start of Day (etc) case will now be heard on 25 and 26 June. Once it was to be adjourned, it is difficult to get two consecutive days from a court and thus difficult to fit the Court's diary. We suspect that more negotiations will sought from NBN and perhaps a new offer. We will advise in these weekly bulletins of any progress.

OPTUS REDUNDANCIES AGAIN

Optus has advised of further redundancies. This time it affects staff in the Enterprise & Business division and the Procurement function. A total of about 55 jobs are involved. If you are a member and need assistance, please contact us by email (reply to this) or phone.

TELSTRA JOB FAMILY MUST GO

We get all sorts of complaints about Job Family. This usually involves matters such as pay, bonus payments, performance ratings, Bell curve application and classifications. Many members would rather join Workstream where these matters are more transparent. New employees must join the (Telstra highly preferred structure is compulsory) Job Family stream.
In the next EBA there is a call for a campaign to demand that Job Family be abandoned. We want to hear from members who are working under Job Family conditions. We will develop a number of articles about the terms and conditions. Please send us your comments by email.

MILEAGE RATES AWARD APPLICATION

The ACTU has lodged an urgent case in the FWC seeking a minimum 10c-per-kilometre increase to vehicle allowances in modern awards, to address the Iran War-related spike in fuel cost. The Aus Tax Office rate is currently 88c/km.

OPTUS RETAIL EBA NEGOTIATIONS

Negotiations for a new EBA have now commenced. We sought input from members for our CWU Log of Claims. We will present your log to Optus next week. We will include it in the Bulletin next week. Meanwhile Optus has provided its Log of Claims to be included in the new EBA. Below is a summary of the meaningful changes. We have not included a number of technical changes. Your comments are sought and welcome.

OPTUS RETAIL LOG OF CLAIMS

Clause 7. What are our core values?
Optus Retail proposes to replace the existing values with the current values. These values are: We are one team; We act with integrity; and We are accountable.

Clause 9. I'm a casual with regular hours. Can I request to become a permanent employee?
Optus Retail proposes to update this clause to reflect the NES casual conversion provisions.

Clause 11. What is my base rate of pay?
Optus Retail proposes to update the Base Salary set out in the 2026 Agreement to reflect the current Base Salaries under the 2023 Agreement effective 1 July 2025.

Clause 13. Will the Base Salary be increased?
Optus Retail proposes to: retain the existing approach in the 2023 Agreement to increase the Base Salary by CPI during the term of the 2026 Agreement; remove the word 'projected' in this clause for accuracy, as the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) publish an actual CPI figure for the 12 months (1 April to 31 March) and not a projection; and make clear it will use the ABS published year on year CPI figure to 31 March for each year (31 March ABS CPI figure) to determine the minimum rate increases for each classification at 1 July 2026, 1 July 2027, 1 July 2028 and 1 July 2029 during the term of the agreement.

Clause 19. When will I get paid?
Optus Retail proposes to amend this clause to confirm that an employee's Base Fortnightly Rate is based on the average fortnightly ordinary hours a full-time employee works in a roster cycle when an employee's roster cycle is greater than one fortnight. The change seeks to confirm that a full-time employee with a roster cycle longer than a fortnight will receive the same remuneration for Ordinary Hours each pay period, to ensure Base Pay is distributed evenly and consistently across the full roster cycle.

Clause 35. Annual Leave
Can I be required to take annual leave? Optus Retail proposes to: clarify that notice of a shutdown; move the purchasing of leave into its own section and decouple this from annual leave to reflect market practice that purchased leave schemes do not directly interact with an employee's annual leave entitlement. See 'Purchased Leave' below for further details.

Clause 36. Parental Leave
Optus Retail's current paid parental leave benefits provide for:
(a) up to 14 weeks' paid parental leave for the primary carer;
(b) up to 4 weeks' paid parental leave for the secondary carer (partner); and (c) superannuation contributions to employees on unpaid primary carer parental leave up until the first birthday or 12 months from the date of placement of the child/children.
Optus Retail proposes to introduce changes to enhance this offering and has updated the clause accordingly, including:
(i) increasing the paid leave benefit for employees from up to 14 weeks' to up to 16 weeks';
(ii) introducing carer neutral parental leave by removing refences to caring status, meaning each parent will be able to access up to 16 weeks' paid parental leave.
Optus proposes a number of other changes to the clause which are as follows:
(i) making necessary changes to give effect to carer neutral parental leave;
(ii) clarification that Optus policies will deal with matters relating to parental leave entitlements including, but not limited to: how paid or unpaid parental leave may be taken by employees; and the definition of "placement"; resulting in the removal of several sub-clauses.
(iii) confirmation that Optus Retail will pay superannuation contributions to an employee when they are on paid parental leave and on unpaid parental leave until the first birthday or 12 months from the date of placement of the child/children subject to their return to work after any previous period of parental leave.

Clause 37. Connected Day
A Connected Day is a day of paid leave for employees to connect with the things that they love and the things that matter to them, which may include anything from their culture, family, health, community or wellbeing. Optus Retail proposes to: increase the existing Connected Day offering from one day to two days of paid leave per calendar year and as a result, change the heading to 'Connected Days'; and update the eligibility clause to clarify its intention that fixed term employees who are engaged for a continuous period of 12 months' or more are eligible to take Connected Days.

22 44. Blood Donation Leave
Optus Retail recognises that blood donations are truly lifesaving for many people across Australia and want to ensure our people are actively encouraged to participate in donating where it is appropriate for them to do so. Optus Retail proposes to increase the amount of leave employees can access for the purpose of donating blood from up to 2 hours per occasion, to up to 4 hours per occasion. This will increase the total leave that can be accessed per calendar year from 8 hours to 16 hours.

Clause 45. Family and Domestic Violence Leave
Optus Retail recognises that providing paid leave enables those experiencing family and domestic violence to seek help, access support and seek safety. Optus Retail proposes to increase the number of paid family and domestic violence leave days an employee can access up to 20 days per year of service from the existing 10 days. Optus Retail proposes to expressly state that casual and part-time employees can access these paid leave provisions.

Clause 46. Purchased Leave
Optus Retail proposes to move the purchasing of leave into its own 'Purchased Leave' clause. This will reflect market practice that purchased leave schemes do not directly interact with an employee's annual leave entitlement and therefore consider it appropriate to more appropriately characterise it as a "Purchased Leave" entitlement. Optus Retail proposes to provide that there will be 2 opportunities to purchase leave under this clause by sacrificing a portion of their pay over a few pay periods in return for the additional leave.

Clause 47. Defence Reserve Leave (NEW)
Optus recognises the national importance of the Australian Defence Force Reserves and wants to ensure that our people are supported to perform this important service. Optus proposes to introduce a paid Defence Reserve Leave entitlement of up to 20 days per calendar year for full-time and part-time employees, for the purposes of serving in the Defence Force Reserves (including performing training). This is currently an entitlement provided for via Optus Retail's workplace policies.