[Greens-Media] Telstra 'management by bullying' is 'mad and warped' - Greens

[Elizabeth.Ingham at parliament.vic.gov.au]

TELSTRA "MANAGEMENT BY BULLYING" IS "MAD AND WARPED" - GREENS

Sue Pennicuik MLC has spoken out in Parliament this morning against the 
Telstra management culture that was exposed on Four Corners program "Tough 
Calls" last night.  The program centred around the tragic suicides of two 
Telstra workers ? a technician and a call centre worker, which medical 
evidence suggests were largely brought about by the pressures they were 
under at work. 

"My heart goes out to the family and friends of those workers, whose pain 
and loss must be terrible. The show also interviewed several other Telstra 
workers who have been traumatised", said Ms Pennicuik.

"In the program, the bullying culture of Telstra management was evidenced, 
by CEO, Sol Trujillo - quoted as saying: 'we can't let individuals stand 
in the way' and Greg Winn, Chief Operations Officer, that Telstra is an 
'absolute dictatorship' and his answer for workers who may struggle under 
the excessive performance monitoring and unrealistic targets, which 
doubled in twelve months, is to 'shoot 'em and get 'em out of the way'." 

"The newspeak of John Rolland, Executive Director Sales and Services, was 
chilling, when suggesting that his workers, who 'didn't get it' could 
'find opportunities outside Telstra'. All new workers are forced onto AWAs 
that reduce their base salaries and superannuation dependent on achieving 
targets."

?Behind all this is a mad and warped ?team management? system that refers 
to workers as 'savages', 'dragons' and 'submarines'. It's been a long road 
to this unhappy destination. It began with the deliberate campaign by 
ideological privatisers to discredit Telecom, its incremental 
privatisation and the consequent shift from providing a public service to 
shareholder benefit.?

" 'Help me understand' is one of the phrases one team leader said was used 
often. I ask Telstra to help me understand when Telstra is going to learn 
management by bullying is totally unacceptable", said Ms Pennicuik

For Further comment:
Sue Pennicuik: 0407 000 270
[attachment "070621 MR telstra management 4 corners.pdf" deleted by 
Elizabeth Ingham/Greens/PARL] 
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