CEPU Communications Union national president Shane Murphy claimed the system breakdown caused chaos internally at Telstra.
However, Telstra has refuted the CEPU claims labelling them grossly misleading and issued a response to iTWire.
“Homes and businesses across the country are being left without service because of Telstra’s inability to manage its systems properly,” Murphy said.
“This system has been plagued with problems since it was introduced. Today is a major meltdown that is leaving customers right across the country high and dry.
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According to Murphy, the problem is yet another example of Telstra failing to service Australia’s basic telecommunications needs and highlights the detrimental effects of slashing 9500 jobs at the telco – “one of the biggest job purges in Australian corporate history”.
“[Telstra chief executive] Andy Penn is too busy trying to gut his workforce to focus on ensuring his systems are reliable,” Murphy said. “We said that slashing a third of the workforce would result in a decline in service. The cracks are already really starting to show.
“Telstra is scrambling to try and find ways to dispatch work to its field workers.
“The fact that no technician can go out to install a new service or get a small business back online today because Telstra can’t manage their own booking system is an absolute joke.
“Job cuts have seen workers with decades of experience forced out, and knowledgeable support staff from within Australia have had their jobs shifted off-shore.
“Australians continue to be let down by Telstra’s greedy executive team and workers have had enough.
“Today’s system crash is a disaster and Andy Penn needs to be held to account.”