Since the announcement of the closure of the Melbourne and Brisbane Telephone Sales Centres on 28th May your ASU representatives have been trying to persuade Qantas management that staff need longer than 4 weeks to consider their options after the centres close.
Qantas stuck firm on their time frame of 4 weeks saying staff members could consult an HR person and they may get up to an extra 4 weeks to consider the significant life decisions arising from being made redundant.
Many members have told us that such a short time to weigh up the options is not acceptable and despite trying to reason with Qantas management they stuck to this crazy position
That was until the ASU lodged proceedings with Fair Work Commission and then suddenly Qantas has seen that people need more time to express a preference and have agreed to automatically grant an additional 4 weeks to people who request this on their TALEO form, a link to which is being sent on 6th June.
Why was Qantas doing this?
We are at a loss to understand why Qantas was insisting on such a short time frame. We suspect it has something to do with the end of the financial year and the need to assess the number of staff who will take redundancy so these numbers can be written off against the company's likely loss for the 2013-14 year but we really don't know.
What we do know is that with major life decisions that need to be made Qantas was treating Qantas Telephone Sales staff as numbers on a balance sheet not like long serving loyal staff facing the loss of their jobs.
Finally they have seen sense. What this means is that if you answer on your form that you need more time you will have until 1st August to advise Qantas of your preferences. The good news too is that Qantas accepts that these preferences are NON binding so you can change at a later date.
We are also pleased to report that Qantas is also abandoning the practice of having line managers in the one on one meetings after we made representations about the inappropriateness of this procedure.
Our next discussion with Qantas is on Thursday 5 June 2014 – we will update you after the meeting.
What next?
Meetings are continuing at all Telephone Sales Centres so we can get feedback from members. Make sure you sign up to attend a meeting.
Need more information?
For any more information please contact your local organisers (download the full bulletin below for details).
Qantas Group Bulletin, 3 June 2014