Telstra cleared on AWAs

TELSTRA has claimed a victory in its increasingly bitter battle with unions after being cleared of claims it pressured employees to sign individual contracts. A six-month probe by the federal workplace ombudsman found no evidence that Telstra applied "systemic duress" to force workers to sign Australian Workplace Agreements before the contracts were scrapped by the Rudd Government. But the ombudsman found a prima facie case against one Telstra manager for allegedly trying to illegitimately influence three employees under his direct control. The case is being further evaluated. The investigation, which involved contact with more than 15,300 Telstra employees nationally, is the biggest undertaken by the ombudsman. While Telstra was cleared of systemic duress, no evidence was found that the ACTU and unions acted recklessly by... [read full story]