Telstra says a final decision is yet to made on potential job cuts after claims the telco is planning to shed up to 900 workers.
Employees were briefed by Telstra management on Tuesday about plans to make cuts to its operations division over the next financial year.
It is understood up to 900 jobs could go with the Communications Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU) saying the plan would see one in 16 workers removed from providing service delivery to Telstra customers.
"They've decided on budget cuts and in order to try and fit the problems they've got into the budget cuts, they're having a review of operations," CEPU divisional president Len Cooper told AAP.
"They're going to try and produce cuts of approximately 900 staff to fit the budget." It's likely Telstra staff would be offered redundancies under the plan.
News that makes sense
Your trusted source for staying up-to-date with the world around you. Get free daily news updates and analysis, straight to your inbox.
But a Telstra spokesman said no final decision had been made.
"We're in the very early stages of annual business planning for the Telstra operations team and these are just proposals that we are talking to our employees about," he told AAP.
"It could mean changes over the coming year including potential job reductions."
The telco rejected suggestions customer service would be affected.
"Any changes or job reductions would not compromise customer service," the spokesman said.
"The fact is we're improving our network and our ways of doing things and there's less work required to design, build and maintain our networks. "Unfortunately, there's never a good time for job reductions but new technologies and new ways of working mean that we can serve our customers with fewer jobs."
However, the CEPU said the plan would result in one in 16 workers being removed from providing service delivery to Telstra customers, adding that policies linked to staff cuts had already led to a deterioration in customer service standards.
"Last October, the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman reported a 54 per cent increase in complaints and between July and December 2009 Telstra topped the grievance list with 58,597 complaints," Mr Cooper said.
