Phone and data lines under threat

July 7, 2011

Media Release

Phone and data lines under threat

Phone and data lines are under threat because controversial maintenance arrangements made between Chorus and Visionstream two years ago aren’t working, says the union representing lines maintenance workers.

Chorus, the networks maintenance arm of Telecom, contracted out lines maintenance in Auckland and Northland to Australian company Visionstream in September 2009. Visionstream in turn contracts out the work to hundreds of technicians previously made redundant.

Last week, Visionstream called on its contractors for the tenth week in a row to work through the weekend in order to deal with a backlog of service calls. In a memo sent to all contractors, Visionstream said that they are currently going through “the worst performance we have faced as individual companies and Visionstream ever”.

Visionstream pays a flat rate to its dependent contractors for service calls, and if they want the work they have to meet the company’s demands.

“No-one should be surprised that converting workers to contractors would have had this effect,” says EPMU national secretary Bill Newson. “It’s inevitable that this would lead to a loss of coordination and management across the organisation”.

The EPMU campaigned vigorously against the changeover for this very reason, says Newson.

“Visionstream is putting unreasonable pressure on its contractors,” says EPMU national industry organiser Joe Gallagher. “This can’t be good for the workforce, or for the network.”

Newson says that the price of Telecom’s poor decision-making is being paid by its technical workforce and its customers.

ENDS

Attached: Visionstream letter to contractors Contractor_Availability.pdf

© Scoop Media