[BITList] Telstra - Mongrels.

[John Feltham]

The Advertiser - Bendigo - Australia


Call to hang up on Telstra

28/02/2009 9:51:00 AM

A SACKED Telstra employee has called on Bendigo to boycott the company  
in the fallout from the decision to close the King Street call centre.
The Advertiser reported yesterday that Telstra would axe 133 workers  
when the centre closed in May.

Member for Bendigo Steve Gibbons supported the public backlash against  
Telstra for its “disgraceful betrayal of the Bendigo community”.

The Telstra employee said the company had treated workers like “pieces  
of s...”.

Morale in the centre had been down for the past two years.

“It’s like going to jail, not going to work, but they would probably  
treat you better in jail,” the employee said.

“There’s no such thing as caring for people with Telstra. I don’t  
think we’ll ever find out the truth behind the job cuts.” Asked what  
the response would be on encountering outgoing Telstra chief executive  
Sol Trujillo, the employee said “I’d punch him in the face”.

Some people at the centre had worked for Telstra in Bendigo for 40  
years, the employee said.

“We’ve got houses and mortgages and families, and we were continually  
told that we wouldn’t get closed down, that we were the best call  
centre in Australia.

“My message to Bendigo is: find a new provider. It’s time we hit them  
where it hurts.” Mr Gibbons said Telstra no longer deserved the  
support of Bendigo customers.

“This is nothing but a disgraceful betrayal of the Bendigo community.

“It is a decision that Telstra did not need to make at this critical  
time for our economy.

“The cost savings from moving jobs from one call centre to another  
must be minimal and absolutely trivial in the context of a company of  
Telstra’s size.

“It is this type of American management philosophy - the one-eyed  
pursuit of short-term profits before all else - that led to the  
current global economic crisis in the first place.” Bendigo Trades  
Hall Council secretary Karen Kyle said Telstra had behaved abominably.

“It’s very sad and disappointing, but typical of Telstra - bullying in  
order to get things done.”


My Comments:

1. "find a new provider" - Thats been my position for years now. They  
still ring me up and want me back! Mongrels.

2. Asked what the response would be on encountering outgoing Telstra  
chief executive Sol Trujillo, the employee said “I’d punch him in the  
face”. This man would have to line up in the queue like the rest of  
us. He'd have a long wait.



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