Merv Vogt was dismissed from Telstra's National Telemarketing unit for distributing union branch literature and he believes his sacking is a breach of the Australian Constitution.
As job delegate for the CPSU at the unit, Merv took his responsibilities so seriously that he regularly produced and distributed a newsletter for his members to ensure that they were kept informed of the issues facing them in the turbulent period Telstra workers have faced in the last few years. Two months ago Management accused him of using Telstra's equipment to produce the newsletter, when he was able to prove that was not the case, he was sacked anyway. The reasons given were...
The dismissal took place just prior to an enterprise bargaining negotiation and shocked workers at the unit. It was a blatant case of discrimination against someone who was a consciencious and active union rep.
Even so, when the case came before the Telstra Grievance Tribunal the CPSU representative voted along with the other members of the Tribunal against Merv's appeal. Worker's still at the unit believe that the union is keen to sign the new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement and feared that opposition from the unit would interfer.