Telecom boss's $5m 'shameless greed': Union

Paul Reynolds' package including salary, performance incentive and travel allowance, will top $5 million. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

The Engineering, Printing and Manufacturing Union (EPMU) has labelled a $5 million payment to Telecom's chief executive as "shameless greed".

Up to 1000 telecommunications engineers around the country staged a one-day strike yesterday as part of continued industrial action over plans to make them owner/operators.

The engineers have not ruled out further strikes.

The engineers want their current employer, Telecom's network division Chorus, to abandon a contract agreement with Australian company Visionstream in Auckland and Northland.

Under Visionstream, engineers would become owner/operators, providing their own equipment and transportation, which the EPMU says would leave many staff jobless and put the future of New Zealand's telecommunications network at risk.

The EPMU also attacked Telecom over today's news chief executive Paul Reynolds would be paid more than $5 million, including his full performance bonus, despite a 43.9 per cent slump in the company's profits for the year to the end of June.

Dr Reynolds' payment could not be more insulting to the lines engineers, EPMU national secretary Andrew Little said.

"At the same time hundreds of frontline Telecom workers are having their livelihoods and their work rights stripped from them shows Telecom is driven by shameless greed and a complete disregard for the network they've been entrusted with.

"Right now our members are being made redundant and Telecom is trying to force them into a situation which would see them lose all employment protections and have no guarantee of work or income.

"Up until this point our members have shown a degree of goodwill including making sure that basic phone service was restored for Northland yesterday despite strike action. It's hard to see how any of that goodwill can continue."

Mr Little said the union would ramp up action over the next two weeks.

Telecom was not immediately available to respond to the union's accusations.

Meanwhile, Visionstream said union claims its owner/operator model could see engineers' incomes halved were "highly misleading".

The company's New Zealand manager Andrew Stevens said its owner operator rates were calculated so that field staff maintaining an output in line with the current industry average could expect to maintain a similar level of income.

Those with good productivity levels could achieve a significantly higher income, he said.

"The figures bandied about by the union give a totally false impression of what the average owner operator is likely to earn.

"The owner operator model provides workers with an excellent opportunity to use their skills to build a profitable and successful business, and ensures a high standard of service for our customers and for consumers."

Mr Stevens said that as part of its 10-year contract with Chorus in Auckland and Northland, Visionstream was offering owner operators training and back-office support, as well as a contribution towards tools, equipment and insurance costs, and access to an interest-free loan.

But the union said an independent legal and commercial analysis of the proposed Visionstream contract showed a significant loss of income and conditions.

It said Visionstream had failed to back up its statement with hard evidence.

"Lines engineers could face an income cut of more than 50 per cent, would have no guarantee of regular work and would have to shoulder huge business risks," Mr Little said.

They would have to set up their own businesses at a cost of up to $60,000, he said.

- NZPA