National’s Northland MP John Carter confirmed to me before question time today that he has been telling telco workers in his electorate not to sign the Visionstream contracts, as reported by me on Red Alert yesterday. He says the contracts are a crock and will not be in their interests to sign.
What discussions are taking place on this issue within the National Party caucus, and within Cabinet? What are other National MPs telling their constituents?
It seems pretty clear that the Visionstream contracts are NOT what they’re made out to be by Telecom, Chorus and Visionstream.
And it’s not a good look that at a time when Telecom’s techies are either being made redundant or forced to sign contracts to become dependent contractors and lost up to 66% of their income (while having to buy their own businesses and take all the risk) Telecom CEO Paul Reynolds gets a $5 million payment.
Not a good look Telecom. John Carter knows it. Who else on the government benches knows it and will do something about it?
What legislation would you like them to introduce that can possibly help them right now?
Surely ay legislation that is rushed through now to address this issue alone would be knee jerk and the implications it would have in the future could not be fully considered.
It would seem that John Carter is encouraging people to exercise their right to negotiate a decent work contract under the existing law.
I am no expert however and concede that there may be issues that need to be legislated and addressed for all situations such as this. However trying to push something through to help now would probably end up in legislation that causes division and headaches down the road. Similar to what we see from the repeal of section 59. A bill introduced to address a real concern but because it was rushed through on the wave of emotion surrounding incidents such as the Kahui’s it is poorly worded and now causing huge issues.
You actually have to say well done John Carter for sticking up for his Northland constituents! Even though I live in Northland, he still isn’t going to get my vote!
Labour has been very supportive of telco workers right from the beginning. Perhaps National have just decided that the contracts are not worth the paper they’re written on?
Did I see somewhere today that the boss of Chorus got a million bucks including cash bonuses? How much are they offering these ‘contractors’ again?
The head of Telecom received 5 Mil which included his full benifits even though the company had 42% negative growth. Theyh will discount the poor performance as the result of the resession. However the fact that they will use the recesion as an excuse to cut costs and wages every where else and then use it as an excuse to give one man a huge bonus is disgraceful.
@ Telcom:
The Telecom CEO has obviously attended past workshops on
1)”Emerging A Winner From The Recession” and also 2)”Never waste a good recession”.
Next step 3:
Call visionstream and get them on board in NZ with their brilliant “business opportunity”
step 3: support visionstream in this model blindly and hope nobody figures it out.
step 4: PRAY steven joyce does’nt either:
step 5; laugh all the way to the bank…accepting nods of approval & smiles from happy shareholders.
sincerley yours Telecom
michael kerikeri
You’ve lost a great Technician!
I am married to a Technician with almost 20 years telecommunications experience worldwide in fibre splicing, training, inside/outside plant, copper etc. & more.
He absolutely loves his job here in NZ & the guys he works alongside. Unfortunately the hourly rate he was on as a Tech equalled what the 20 year old Receptionist at my work earns to play on the internet 1/2 the day.
But anyway, my point is that he now has another job (thank god) outside the industry rather than enter into a slave Contract with VS to lose money.
He is looking forward to the change in career but is absolutely gutted about the guys he’s leaving behind & is worried, actually… more like frightened, for the future of the telecommunications infrastructure in NZ.
This isn’t Chicken Licken saying “The sky is falling, the sky is falling”. If things aren’t sorted prior to Oct, the sky would have fallen because there won’t be enough Techs to keep the antiquated network afloat anymore!
Don’t say we didn’t warn you Telecom, VS, Steven Joyce, the media & the rest of you!
Over & out.
perhaps you could pressure john carter into making a stand.
what greed
What greedy pigs they all are!
Look how they have screwed their workforce. They have eroded away at the engineers conditions for years,also the call center staff (now in Manila) dispatchers and on and on.
The engineers are fighting for their jobs in Auckland and North land and other engineers,dispatchers and admin in other parts of NZ have been given redundancy notices over 154 of them.
The network these greedy pigs have been feasting off is in a state,held together with a sticking plaster. The once pristine Telephone Exchanges are filthy holes,another cost cutting measure. Cost cutting nothing to do with the current economic climate. This has been going on for years so these greedy pigs can get their million dollar plus bonuses and salaries.
Once they have taken and stripped the bones clean no doubt they will move on.
The engineers and other once loyal staff have had enough.
The greedy pigs bonuses might be down next year, the spot light is finally on them for what they have done to a once well maintained network and loyal workforce.
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Posted by one of his little labourers (not verified) at 10:20 pm on August 25, 2009
paul found another couple of payslips ,around seven million $pay.the guy even looks like a vulture,wasn’t that him on national geographic.i went and looked online at northpowers broadband layout.go to northpower and then to fibre.this system makes telecoms look so second hand.check it out.while youre there compare this company to telecom.both do similar things.which seems more professional.which is a lines maintenance company which is a backyard one.doesnt the telecom proposed expensive system now look a little dated.why are we putting up with telecom.perhaps a government inquiry.please fill your own question marks in.are there scones on this picket line.
with cream
Hey – the money was in the guys contract and paid out accordingly – I cannot see where the issue is.
He earned it and it was paid out based on metrics agreed in advance.
Dont be haters.
It is hard to believe that the company met its targets as set at the time of his contract. He would have argued that the reason those targets were not met is because of the recession, the same reason he would use to cut other peoples income. The company should be in Money savig mode and him not meeting his targets should have been a good reason for them to save some money there.
@bikerkiwi
so would the “metrics agreed in advance” include the pathway telecom has followed over the years thus far to leave us & the network in our current situation ?
Would that have been the agreed upon business plan?
I am inclined to believe that , that was indeed the case. Telecom dont seem to be the kind of company to make impulsive knee jerk decisions and must have known long in advance where they want to position themselves in favour of their shareholders and how they will achieve that.
They must have been aware too of the impact it will have on all affected and took the gamble or “calculated risk” as “businessmen” call their activities.
No regard is given for the impact on the labour involved or the customers for that matter.
“just keep the focus on the bottom line…profits & shareholder dividends!”
So why should we not be angry? Its an obscene amount to be paid at our expense, disgusting and in humane.
I dont mind a business making a profit because that is what business do and we the labour force benefit thru our labour. Fair pay for fair labour provided.That is the norm.
Is the telecom CEO’s $5mil a fair pay for fair work by reasonable man standards? I dont think so.
In this instance however its just pure greed pure and simple and some on this blog just like telecom want to call this the future? You must be blind not to see it for what it is OR you are a telecom shareholder too and smile all the way to the bank…
I dont think I want to be a part of this industry any longer if this model is accepted and implemented as the future trend in the telecommunications industry.
Its not mutually beneficial and its purpose is purely profits above people.
That is what MP John Carter could see immediately after looking at the contract and barristers report I gave him plus the newly adjusted pay rates to tempt us into this horrid scheme of telecom /visionstream.
You are absolutely right bikerkiwi,I must agree with you on this one… reynolds earned his $5mil for sure.
sincerely yours
michael
paul negotiated for his pay,thats good but this is not about him,this is about my mate and his wife and how at the end of this they have to sell the home and go on the dole untill work comes.theres no golden oppotunity for them in this and they are not going to borrow more money and besides who in their right minds would invest the sort of money required to do this into a shady one year deal which promises the same amount of income as present.i will expect to see you bidding at the auction if it comes down to that bikerkiwi and you can then see first hand the reality of this contract and what its doing to people.its not only my mate theres a lot of people that this effects and if this is the corporate world that you wish for then good luck to you.
fyi…
http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/blogs/frontline/2801891/A-boil-on-the-countrys-backside