This is the first in a series that I will post this week.
Rural New Zealand’s extensive influence on the National Government will be on display when Steven Joyce finally releases his plan to roll out ultrafast broadband fibre (expected announcement within days).
I predict that the announcement will look quite different to the original pledge to deliver ultrafast broadband to 75% of New Zealanders in their homes. Firstly, it won’t be to their homes. Why? Because doing that would cost a lot more than the $1.5 billion proposed. Even with an equivalent amount raised from the private sector.
Secondly, the aim to reach 75% of New Zealanders will also be out the window. Why? Because the National Party made a big mistake when formulating its big ticket campaign pledge. It should never have left out the rural sector.
I predict Joyce will come up with a new proposal that on the face of it is about more equitable distribution of broadband across the country, including the rural sector, where our primary production increasingly depends on us having a technologically competitive edge and where the social benefits of broadband access will make such a difference to rural communities.
So we’ll likely see a promise to roll out broadband more widely across the country. I have no criticism with that. But if it does, what happens to the campaign pledge?
The people who thought they’d get ultrafast broadband to their homes soon will be told they have to wait. Schools, hospitals and businesses will be further prioritised. If that’s the case, then it begins to look more and more like the Labour Government’s plan; the Broadband Investment Fund. A crucial difference is that Steven Joyce will be banking on private sector investment to get the greater reach, and somehow to get an immediate return on his government’s investment. Given the long delays in making the announcement I suspect he’s finding that a bit of a problem.
I imagine he’s discovering that when government promises to commit money to a big infrastructure programme it has to actually invest in it on a long term basis and not see an immediate return. When our forefathers decided to invest in major roading and rail networks throughout this country were they the result of public private partnerships? Or were they a decision by government to invest in the coutry’s future. And bear the short to medium term cost for the long term good?
And here’s another dilemma.
If broadband is going to be rolled out in the rural sector in the short term it puts Telecom firmly in the frame for that rollout. Telecom has made sure it has positioned itself as best placed to rollout broadband because it has a national network. And it does. But it’s a copper network. It doesn’t have the incentive to move fast to rollout broadband fibre. Telecom has a serious brand problem right now. It may not have an adequate skilled workforce. It’s contracting arrangements are in disarray. So Mr Joyce and Mr English, there are a few tricky issues to deal with when contemplating your new piece of infrastructure.
Mr Joyce, if I were you, I’d be thinking about being upfront with the New Zealand people about what you can and can’t do with regards to your big ticket election pledge. And I’d be thinking pretty hard about what approach is best for our nation.
And one more thing. There’s no doubt that broadband is the way of the future. It’s the new highway and will provide the connectivity to take New Zealand forward and enable us to be more competitive, more creative and more connected to each other. But there’s more to this than the physical highway. What goes on the highway and where the highway is going really matters.
And your government is not engaged with that.
“If I were Steven Joyce…”
…….go on, say it; ‘I’d be in government’
“If I were Steven Joyce….”
…. I’d try a bit harder not to be Tony Friedlander’s puppet.
I predict that if they don’t lay it out as you say you will completely ignore that you ever made this post and that if you are right you will be tap dancing your ass off in it.
Oh by the way good idea comparing the build up of rail and roads. From what I understand doing things the way they did back then is always the best idea. Progess is bad am I right?
Steven Joyce will say: “Don’t you know that we are in the worst economic crisis since the 30’s? We are careful with taxpayers money so the prudent thing to do is to scale back the plans for now. If Labour hadn’t wasted……”
Ianmac, either that or he’ll put the money into his Puhoi-Wellsford pet motorway project.
Steven Joyce will be finding just how difficult and expensive it is to service the more remote rural areas. And even the not so remote – a trawl through Trade Me farm chat sessions will come up with awful Telecom stories from spots only 20 km from sizeable towns.
These guys normally would have my full sympathy. Running a farm these days really requires good broadband speed to access the Net and all the services delivered over it. Those farms which can afford it use local or satellite ISP access.
Trouble is, it costs megabucks to put in cables etc compared to high density city areas. A bit like rural roads, many of which are rather like private drives, and the tiny rural schools, which per-pupil cost big time. The numbers are stacked against all these. So OK, let everyone else support them, and set up some good cross-subsidies so it’s not noticed.
But farmers are happy to demand all this, yet we don’t see any thanks, or sympathy for anyone else in a similar situations. Socialists when it suits them!
Maybe someone should remind Mr Joyce of all this.
If you were Steven Joyce – hopefully you’d have a press sec you could write these things for you so they are clearer and easier to follow!! Might be good to have a chat to Trevor about blog style. This is up there with a Cunliffe post in length and incomprehensibility.
Clare you do realise that Telecom doesnt just have copper? It has a about 25000km of fibre in the ground now. It’s core network is fibre, it’s mobile network is fibre fed. Also, you do know that your colleague, David Cunliffe, legislated that Telecom invest in fibre to the node to 80% of NZ…. and that, that involves… fibre… right?
I know you enjoy putting the boot into Telecom, but like it or not, one of the best legacies of the last government was getting Telecom to invest heavily in fibre thereby laying a platform for technologies like VDSL2 – just a shame you don’t seem to know that.
I guess you’re talking about Vogel there when you refer to NZ’s great investment in roads and rail by our forefathers… He borrowed 10 million pounds in the 1870 when NZ only had a few hundred thousand people which is the same as about $33 billion today and NZ hurt from the debt for decades after… However large scale infrastructure investment well directed is never wasted maybe just not that large scale…
Sigh… Scaled back broadband, scaled back auckland electrification, plenty more motorways..! The 1870’s are looking better all of a sudden…
@David Nathan. Hmmm wonder which Minister you work for.
@Despair. Yes I know Telecom is laying out fibre. But it has a copper network that it believes is adequate at this time for the bulk of New Zealand and it’s on the record saying so. Telecom has little incentive to hurry to lay out fibre. But understandably, it doesn’t want to be left out. There’s a bigger game going on here and I’ll have more to say in the next few days.
@Jezza. Vogel yes. But I was thinking about Dick Seddon, Peter Fraser and Michael Joseph Savage who, when they invested taxpayers’ money in the road, rail and electricity networks that make up our modern society, they took a leap of faith. They had the foresight to know that public investment was required in infrastructure that the private sector couldn’t or wouldn’t deliver equitably across society in order to drive our economy, create jobs and take us forward as a nation. That was Government’s role. And it is government’s role to make sure it’s done equitably.
Who is going to lay this fibre? The Techs in Auckland have been given notice with some already gone. Sign up as a ‘dependent contractor’ or see ya later. Most of hubby’s ex workmates for Transfield in the Waikato will find out on Friday morning when their last day will be. Over 30 field staff/designers all being layed off. Over 150 Transfield workers nationwide down the road to WINZ. Thats not including the hundreds in Auckland and Northland. Yea Telecom really care,they have, thru their actions, just forced out hundreds of experienced and loyal engineers in the que at WINZ.
And a good example is Telecom itself. Millions of dollars invested over a few decades until it started turning a profit sometime around 1980. After that it was self-sustaining. If it hadn’t been sold we probably would be getting fiber to the home rolled out about now with no further investment from the taxpayers.
But it was sold and now we have a second rate network and not enough engineers to get it up to scratch. Never mind the fact that it’s still going to have to be taxpayer dollars that modernizes it as private investment won’t. If they would it would have been done before now.
The posting seemed pretty much on the mark to me. The few niggles posted seem to show that a gentle eddy of cold air is cooling a few red necks as reality bites. Talkfests are one thing… doing is another. And ignore david Natthan, he has trouble between his adjectives and edverbs
adverbs
[...] Clare Curran I have worked for 19 years in the area of communications, or public relations, running campaigns. [...]
I agree with and support another wife. My multi lingual , NZ educated..BE Hons, Canterbury U , husband is likely to be down the road on Friday. I have contacted politicans and media outlets about Fridays layoffs but noone has got back to me and there has been nothing in the papers. Like many others in this industry , he will probably go to Aussie.
Good luck with your skill shortages. As another wife and I have mentioned elsewhere Phillipino workers have already been brought in to replace NZ workers. At least one of these workers has completely unintelligible English. Good luck with that.
@ theresaj “Good luck with your skill shortages. As another wife and I have mentioned elsewhere Phillipino workers have already been brought in to replace NZ workers. At least one of these workers has completely unintelligible English. Good luck with that.”
It was only the other day that a labour MP was saying on this blog that we should make use of foreign doctors to help with the shortage of NZ docs.
Im guessing if labour is happy for this to be the case with nations health system – they should be ok with it for telecomms as well.
Biker,
Foreign is ok but non English speaking?
I don’t think many people understand what is happening in telecomms or how essential the services are.
Young NZ engineers are highly sought after in the US where the infrastructure is about to collapse. NZ’s infrastructure is likely to be in the same state in about 20 years time. Don’t know where they will get the engineers from. Young people in our city write to the paper saying that maths should no longer be a compulsory subject in our secondary schools. Most of them are so poor at maths now that they could not possibly complete an engineering degree.
A couple of years ago at my son’s school the only students taking year 13 Physics were Asians.
@ Theresaj
I told my Hubby when he trained the Filipino Techs on our network, when they arrived in NZ, that you are training them to take over your job. We couldn’t understand why the mass employment drive of Filipino techs. Great bunch of guys and they themselves must be thinking what a mistake it was to come here. Some have already gone to OZ, NZ was just a stepping stone to better conditions once they received their residency. Now they are all awaiting Transfields decision on Friday on who is to go and who is to stay.
As you know Transfield does not have a redundancy clause in their contracts. There is over 32 field Techs in the Waikato to go. A high percentage! There could be outrage if all the fillipinos are kept over longterm employees.
They have two conference rooms booked at the Kingsgate on Friday-was supposed to be morn but now early afternoon- when is your hubbys meeting in CH? I know over 150 staff will be told on Friday.
This has come about since Transfield signed the new contract with Chorus
.Our need to operate differently in order to meet our contractual obligations.
.The different performace measures in the new Chorus Field Services Contract.
.Changes in the volume of work available.
It goes again back to Telecom screwing their contractors down which in turn filters down to my family.
Once this cull is over in Transfield the workers will be taken off an hourly rate and paid on a code system. Again like the Vision Stream Contract some work undertaken under the min hourly rate.
I hope you and your family get thru this and know you are not the only one facing this.
We have already been given notice as we are not taking on more debt by signing with VS.
I too, have tried to get the people that can make a difference to take note of what is happening but I guess they only will when their phones.eftpos,etc don’t work anymore!
Thinking of all you Transfield people on Friday.
GOOD LUCK!
Interesting debate.
But Telecom will resist fibre as long as possible, so that the legacy assets can be sweated! they have 25,000 km of pretty useless fibre as they did not plan on customers actually wanting access to it so they did not invest in multi-core fibre for customers but primarily for their own needs!
The issue of the techs is a red herring as they are not fibre techs, they are the legacy copper guys who keep the PSTN going, if they were fibre techs they would be off pulling the big bucks elsewhere.
Telecoms challenge with rural is they can’t afford to do it properly but there others out there already doing it and who have accessible fibre networks in useful places!
Watch this space carefully as there are already some interesting things underway.
The challenge is to get the most for NZ for the least (and this is what I think Labour’s focus should be not relitigating the BIF which was flawed!), Telecom have to make any new network (especially if it is Govt funded) open access so the business case is not that attractive, the government can’t just give all the rural customers to Telecom!
Telcos are not (repeat NOT!) genuinely interested in fibre as it fundamentally destroys their business model, customers sonn realise that all they need is a fast cheap pipe leading to the internet and then every (yes every) service provided by Telco’s at a premium is available either free or extremely cheap!
This is the real productivity boost of advanced ICT, I know because I have been enjoying it for over 10 years in Central Wellington! and I now enjoy it at my home too (a Wellington apartment)
The last 15 years have seen war waged between the “Bell heads” & the “Net heads” (between the phone companies and the internet) the Internet won!
This is the fundamental concept that needs to be grasped, we actually don’t need anything other than awesome internet connections – please Steven bring it on and Clare make sure we get the most for our precious kiwi dollars!
Interesting comments re. fibre. My husband has over 22 years experience with fibre including about 15 of those years spent splicing fibre in New York City. He’s fully qualified and loves his job. But guess what? He’s been made redundant. Yep, he won’t get into debt for VS/Chorus. They’re losing someone with huge experience. And he’s one of many. They can’t really be serious about the fibre to the home dream J Key has if they let workers like him get away.
I went to the meeting of EPMU Telco members in Wellington this morning to show my support and solidarity. Different issue to the Auckland Northland Visionstream dispute, but same company in the background – and same problem with Telecom trying through its contracting arrangements to drive the cost of labour down. While redundancy is awful for everyone, it’s worse for those on work permits : they have no entitlements to Work & Income benefits, and if they can’t find work in the same field, they will be sent home. In all of the actions I’ve been to, the migrant workers have been there in force, supporting everyone else, so we need to stand by them along with all Telco workers. It’s not their fault they took up an opportunity offered by New Zealand when there was a skills shortage – they were encouraged to come here and told New Zealand was a great choice. While this is a despairing time, don’t give up. What I saw and heard today was building support across New Zealand and internationally. This battle is not over when the redundancy notices are handed out, even although Telecom might hope it will be. Kia kaha!
Darien you are right, it is not their fault they are caught up in this mess created by Telecom trying to drive down labour costs.
The skills shortage they were bought here for hasn’t simply disappeared, after all some Filipinos have just been recruited as close as 2 months ago.
What has changed things is Chorus/Telecom signing of the new patch contracts with its ever tightening margins which some could say, well that’s business. At what cost though? Not for their workforce or the new immigrants that were fooled into coming here for a better life and certainly not the customer.
The new immigrants can work for VS on a wage (considerably less than they get now @ $17-$20 per hour) and once their residency is thru they can opt for a wage or become dependent contractor. Kiwi workers only have the option of dependent contractor. These immigrants are skilled workers and they are being exploited along with us.
If they get told to go in Fridays announcment that Transfield is making,they along with the kiwi worker leave with nothing,no redundancy and a wasted journey to NZ.
They have shown solidarity alongside us and are fighting for their lives and income the same as we are and I can only imagine how horrible this is for them after the promises that they have been told to lure them to our shores.
Darien – how is a $3billion contract driving down cost?
You seem to want to go back to some 1950s socialist utopia where the government owned everything and set the wages – only problem is that you are looking back with rose tinted glasses. There was no amazing historic telecommunications service in New Zealand where everyone was paid thousands of dollars – do you remember having to register to make an international call? how about party lines?
Hard workers do well under owner-operator model – lazy people who like hide beneath a unionised contract don’t. I’m all for supporting hard workers – it’s a pity labour isn’t and chooses to be dominated by the unions that represent a minority of New Zealand workers.
despair you have not a clue whats happening out there,I am a field tech thats now working for someone else as i refuse to sign this idiotic contract of visionstream.I AM a hard worker[as my performance review end of june with transfield reflected] and yet i find this contract to be rubbish and a cost cutting excercise.REad the contract,take it to your independant accountant,then come back here and comment,otherwise bugg off and go comment in (….. deleted please try and keep tone more positive and focus on issues Trevor)
Despair you obvisiouly no nothing of the issues you commented on.
We are not being offered an owner- operator model as you put it rather a dependent contract. Which has been scrutinised by various intelligent qualified individuals e.g.commercial barrister.
If you are interested you can read thier report.
My husband is not lazy neither are is workmates. They are pressured with commitment times and kpis to meet.
Telecom plays contractors off against each other to drive down labour costs and have done for years. Most of the engineers bearly get over $42k a year. That is rostered shifts callouts etc. We have increased by 50c an hour since the early 90’s.
Being in the union doesn’t mean we are lazy workers but intelligent enough to know it is impossible to fight for a decent wage and conditions against these greedy money hungry five million dollar men.
That’s what a tender process is! So they should have just stayed with Transfield for the higher cost and lower service quality standards (if you are interested you can read their contract which details high service standards) just because you want them to?
People can earn more under visionstream’s model – just like what happened in Australia, where workers earn over 100k and just like what happened for the 25 transfield workers who were owner operators in Auckland – earning over 70k. Didnt the union give you that in their ‘independent’ analysis?
Despair – you don’t know what you’re talking about. The new contracts will result in lower income and lower working conditions. Or maybe your corporate masters didn’t tell you that in their “independent” anaysis? Start your education here.
@ Despair
Lets all go to Australia then! We are not stupid,we have done a lot of research and the letter below is just one of many from Australia.There have not been any owner-operator Transfield workers in NZ.
Don,t do it,Ihave been a subby for 10 years after working for Telstra for 30 years.My turnover is down 35% from 10 years ago and with running costs up my wage I pay myself from my company is HALF compared to 10 years back.
They have not even mentioned the fines you will probably receive.here in Australia if a service we work on fails within 7 days even if it is not your fault ie caused by substandard netwok or another tech working on the same cable etc we are fined $140,so if we do an exchange mdf jumper for which we are paid $8. and another tech by mistake removes your jumper we cop a $140. fine
This happens in Australia but all Telcos look at ways of ripping off subbies.
Have a look at our telecommunications sub contractors association web site to see what we are trying to do.
http://www.tsca.com.au it is part of the cepu.
Our union membership numbers have been increasing.
Good luck with your fight against these thieves don,t give up.
Ripped off Australian contractor
Ref: SLD 09/329
6 August 2009
Dear NZ Comrades,
The Victorian Branch of the TSCA has been inundated with emails from
NZ in relation to the transfer from being paid employees to being
subcontractors. It’s impossible to answer them individually, so we’ll give
a broad overview of how the same situation in Australia has affected
subcontractors.
At the outset, the proposal to be ’self-employed’ can look quite attractive,
and some people like the idea of running their own business. However,
the situation for most is not that good and once people are committed
financially for a van, tools etc, it’s difficult to get out.
The contracts entered into are completely one-sided and subbies are
entirely at the mercy of the prime contractor. Contracts are usually able
to be changed with minimum notice and never in the interest of the
subby. Rates are always being changed with some subbies complaining
that they were earning more 5 years ago than they are now. Hours of
work are changed regularly, the distribution of work is haphazard with
some subbies running from one end of Melbourne to the other – and back
again – to do jobs.
In Queensland, some subbies are now expected to work 3 out of 4
Saturdays and 2 out of 4 Sunday a month with the threat that if they don’t
do it they will be finished up. There is also the issue of fines for reworks
etc. These are completely in the control of the prime contractor and some
subbies have been fined with little or no opportunity for them to defend
themselves.
Subbies in Melbourne and Queensland recently stayed off the job for a
few days to have the situation addressed. Until then, management just
ignored the complaints for month after month until they got a reaction
from the subbies. Melbourne subbies had a victory, but only because they
stuck together, and that’s what NZ workers will have to do, and sooner
rather than later.
Training is non -existent for Subbies and, if anyone wants to do a course,
it’s usually at your own expense.
Part of the problem is that prime contractors tender for the work in the
first place and then have to compete with other companies down the track
for the ongoing work. They compete with each other on price and it’s
usually a race to the bottom, and always at your expense. Every time a
prime contractor loses out, the subbies are offered work with the
successful tender. They are promised that ‘nothing will change, rates will
stay the same etc’, but it never does.
It’s not a good situation for anyone to find themselves in – full-time job disappearing, and the
need to continue to earn a living – with limited choice of employer.
Ideally, no one should sign a contract on an individual basis. We all know that we are at our
strongest when we act collectively – and that’s what needs to happen in this case.
The chance to have any real input to the contracts is NOW! The chance won’t come around
again once you are acting independent of each other, and they play you one out.
The best option is to join/maintain membership of the EPMU and present a united workforce
to Vision Stream who are not known as being union friendly.
It’s not a good news story, I’m afraid. Subbies in Australia have been belted left, right and
centre over the years and the same will probably happen in NZ if the effort is not put in at
this early stage.
We wish you well and hope that your experience is better than here in Australia.
Yours in solidarity
Enquiries:
LEN COOPER JIM REID
TSCA M. 0425 772 753
Email: [NOSPAM]
TSCA
TELECOMMUNICATIONS
INDUSTRY
SUB CONTRACTORS’
ASSOCIATION LTD
1/139 Queensberry Street
Carlton South 3053
Ph. 03 9349 4411
Fax: 03 9349 3488
“There have not been any owner-operator Transfield workers in NZ.”
Not true – Transfield had at least 25 owner operators most have gone straight over to visionstream.
Oh and BLIP, you do realise its Labour’s masters at the EPMU who write the standard
Despair
That you resort to telling lies in an effort to smear the source of facts which undermine your position confirms the futility of your argument.
@ Despair
Really? What patch # did they work in? Are you talking about Teltech that contracted to Transfield in Transfields patch areas? I’m with BLIP on this.
There will be more of this to come over the next few months and years. The experienced engineers know that cable blindfolded,they have nursed it along for years. Thats what happens when you don’t recognise skills. Good luck with the Fibre!!
Patch 10 Picket(wednesday)
Well, the (deleted Trevor) /scabs have already ( deleted Trevor but we get the point ) up today in Kaiwaka(sth of Whangarei) jointing in a 100* pcm overlay that has transpositions, that only us striking jointers know about, and has knocked Kaiwaka EFPOS, BB & landlines out. Good job I say, what goes around, comes around. Also 300* lead cut at Snells Beach(Warkworth), knocking the entire shopping centre, was attended to by future Dreamworldvision Stream techs who will be struggling due to the lack of skill/experience on lead cables. Another areas affected today is a rural community inland of Waipu called Taipuha and Kirikopuni( half way between Whangarei & Dargaville) with pmc bearer faults. So much for Telecoms ‘robust’ network & we haven’t any bad weather with the forecast of continuing fine weather. Usually after fair weather there is a raging storm and I predict this storm to hit after we’ve been made redundant, then we’ll hear the public wrath service delays stretch into months.
Sorry Dreamworldvision Stream, but you have just tied yourselves into a 10 year nightmare contract.
UNITED WE STAND EVEN STRONGER!!
another wife
Classic! Excellent news. The only way to communicate effectively with Tele-Scum is to hit their bottom line. I hope all customers now affected demand compensation. Wouldn’t it be interesting if a couple of major banking cables were accidently uprooted – how long it would take the scabs to patch those and how long before the corporate executives in Accounting began to wonder if their “Human” Resources’ tactics are worth it?
Another Wife: “Well, ( deleted for you too Biker Trevor )/scabs have already ( as above Trevor) up today”
So much for the moderated reasoned debate that is Red Alert.
(Biker as I have suggested before if you decided either to contribute in a positive way or comment elsewhere the world would be a better place both for you and us Trevor)
@ bikerkiwi
I do apologise. Passions are running high. These are important issues to the engineer who wrote this.
Please accept my apologies.
Another wife..
All your posts are excellent. You are much better informed than I am. Not sure what time is the mtg tomorrow in ChCh. Tho last night my husband said they may not find out tomorrow specifically who is out.
There should be outrage if the Philipinos are kept and NZ workers are out.
I haven’t heard a whisper from the Nat politicans I emailed.
And where is Steven Joyce..on holiday??
Will post more later..have to go to work..
Thanks for your support another wife.
@ theresaj
I have been on this roller coaster ride with Telecom and before that the NZPO for the past 20 years or so with my husband and his father.
My father-in -law now in his 80’s was the true kiwi bloke who laid the telecommunication network foundations we have today. Carrying heavy poles across country and camping out for days with his workmates in the bush for the NZPO. Two knee replacements and fond memories of his working days. From school to retirement only one employer.
His son (my husband) has had a different journey. Same work but better equipment, no knee replacements for him.
We have managed to hang in there, going from contractor to contractor every time Telecom changes its patch arrangements with our terms and conditions slipping away every time.
We have also watched the state of the network deteriorate. This last contract with VS will be the end of the journey for us.
Maybe with our spare time we will write a book on the history of the Telecommunications in NZ starting with my father-in-laws era to the present day five million dollar man!!
Good for you another wife..I don’t have much time but just wanted to tell that I had emailed a guy in the Press news room..Have you contacted the Waikato Times news room?
This will all be on the TV News tomorrow night as if noone knew it was coming.
My husband said they have no idea when the meeting is tomorrow..obviously being kept in the dark.
kind regards Theresaj.
@ Theresaj
The meeting tomorrow is to advise of the process of the layoffs. Performance,skills,attitude are taken into accountant when choosing.
This process could take a few weeks. At least that’s a few more pay days!
The skill level puts some filipino techs above some kiwi techs as up skilling and training has been pretty much non-existent here for several years. Not in Telecoms contractors budget.
Fingers crossed for you in the coming weeks.
@ Another Wife:have a look at my post : http://blog.labour.org.nz/index.php/2009/09/03/qs-to-the-minister-for-redundant-telco-workers/
Feel free to email me directly : darien.fenton@parliament.govt.nz
[...] Earlier this week I predicted that his proposal would look a lot different to
Thanks another wife..there is a meeting here in ChCh at 3.30 pm
My husband said he thinks it is going to be a ”bumpy road” and that they may have to reapply for their jobs..as you say it means a few more pay days..all the best..
@ Theresaj
This is the information that I got from the Transfield (Telecom Contractor) meeting.
( Doesn’t look good for our Hubby’s. If you look on seek Brisbane are employing Telecom Engineers,they are wanting expressions of interest. We are getting tired of being Telecoms puppets.)
Transfields new contract with Telecom reduces the patches to four,provides for lower price for services,introduces a serious level of volatility into the work flow that will come Transfields way.
Telecom will totally control the volume of work and the type of work that is given to Transfield.
As a result, Transfield are now only able to forecast volume and demand for three to six months ahead, depending on the particular mix of work allocated to Transfield. The new contract fails to give any long term commitments to Transfield as to volumes of work and prices. In that sense, it seems to be a rather feudal master and servant agreement, where Transfield is expected to say “yes Sir,how high Sir”.
Transfields current best estimate is that their revenue for the 2010 financial year will drop from the 2009 base line of $125 mil by between 11 and 19% or $15 – $25 mil.
Since LABOUR COSTS represent the biggest slice of their costs, this level of reduction in revenue they claim will translate into a need to REDUCE LABOUR COSTS by $12-$20 mil.
These figures are based on various assumptions about the future and the likely mix of demand and services that Telecom will require.
@ Theresaj
Lets say good luck to Stephen Joyce with broadband fibre roll-out aye?! Maybe he could put on some overalls and have a crash course at laying it because we will all be gone!!
Thanks for all that Another wife..loved your last comment. I saw someone calling him ”Jackboot Joyce.” Also thanks very much for the tip about Brisbane. My hubby is not home from work yet.
Hubby has interview this am..the eighties style redundancies have been disgusting..really drawn out , playing staff off against each other..etc
Lots of very experienced people have already lost their jobs.
Welcome to the third world.
@Theresaj
My hubby also has had to be re-interviewed and sit an on-line test. We don’t know anything yet,I will let you know and lots of luck to you.
It has and still is a horrible time,we should be used to it by now,its not as if this is anything new in the telecommunications field but it still hits us hard.
This round is a bit different the way it has dragged on and having to have tests and interviews.
Lots of good people have recently left after obtaining positions in a different field of employment altogether rather than wait to be told the outcome on their current positions.
Lots of luck,its not as if we have any redundancy to get us thru either is it? Not in the contract, we will only get two weeks notice. Lets hope we scrape thru this round.
Have you seen Paul Reynolds comments on NBR? As long as the shareholders are happy aye? Too bad customers have been waiting in some cases several weeks for phone service! Unheard of even in the good old days.
@Theresaj
How did your Hubby get on? Has he still got a job?
We are one of the lucky ones (or unlucky depending how you look at it! ) my hubby has managed to hang in there this time round. Lots of changes but at least the fortnightly pay is still coming in. Some good Telecom Engineers lost along the way. Trans field have done a big cull this time. Looks like working on a code system could be coming our way.
Vision stream in the North and Auckland has been a disaster. I was listening to talk back and some customers have been without service for several weeks. Third world has arrived. Telecom surely must be regretting pushing down labour costs by introducing these Australian contractors into the market.
Or maybe not, its only their customer suffering! They didn’t care about their workforce.
Another wife,
My husband got made redundant on Sept 30th…he decided to work out his notice so finishes next Wednesday 28th Oct. He is taking a personal grievance case against Transfield..The union has already filed on behalf of 22 other people. You have probably heard that John Key wants to make it much more difficult to take personal grievances cases.
His job prospects in ChCh are very , very poor..He just heard recently that recruitment agencies are advertising fake non existent jobs just to get more people on their books for what they hope is an upturn. Surely this has to illegal.
A woman at the local Winz office said this time last year they were dealing with 80 redundancies..now they have 350…this is just a surburban office in ChCh.
I think these companies don’t care about their workers or their customers.
I am pleased things worked out for your husband.