Hundreds of drivers nabbed in blitz

Police blitz. Source: Herald Sun

MORE than 400 drivers have been nabbed for mobile phone offences during a four-day police blitz.

Police detected 1950 offences during the operation, which ended on February 22 and which was aimed at reducing road trauma involving cyclists, pedestrians and motorcyclists.

Uniformed police joined the State Highway Patrol and bicycle patrol unit to target hotspots in the Melbourne, Yarra, Boroondara, Stonnington and Port Phillip police service areas.

Police focused on morning and afternoon peak commuter times when most collisions occur.

As part of the highly visible operation, police discovered:

1475 car and truck offences, including:

* 431 using a mobile phone while driving

* 241 disobeying traffic lights and signs

* 10 failing to give way

* 198 motorcycle offences, including:

* 110 riding in a bicycle lane

* 6 disobeying traffic lights and signs

* 140 bicycle offences, including:

* 86 failing to wear a helmet

* 30 disobeying traffic lights and signs

* 8 riding on a footpath

* 3 failing to have lights or equipment

* 137 pedestrian offences, including:

* 108 disobeying traffic lights

* 21 walking improperly on road

* 2 crossing within 20 metres of pedestrian crossing

The bicycle patrol unit nabbed 17 motorcyclists in less than an hour for riding in a bicycle lane on Rathdowne St Carlton last  Friday.

Members were out in East Melbourne on Wednesday February 20, when they tried to flag down a car that had gone through a no left turn sign about 8.45am.

The driver attempted to evade police and turned back into Punt Road and continued driving.

Two members rode after the vehicle and caught up with the driver in Albert St.

He was issued with a fine for failing to obey traffic sign and warned about failing to obey direction from police.

Shortly after at the same location, a scooter went through the no left turn and again tried to evade police.

The members rode towards Wellington Parade for about six blocks looking for the driver and caught up with him at some traffic lights.

He was then issued with a fine.

Road Policing Command Assistant Commissioner Robert Hill said police would continue to conduct these types of operations to not only protect vulnerable road users but also raise awareness of road safety and the impacts of distractions.

"We need pedestrians to look up from their smartphones and be aware of their surroundings, we need motorcyclists to ride with care in heavy traffic, we need cyclists to obey traffic lights and we need drivers to always look for cyclists, motorbikes and pedestrians,'' he said.

"There are more devices and distractions available than ever before and the consequences for vulnerable road users are dire.

"The new TAC distractions campaign, which launches today, shows how quickly inattention can end in disaster and highlights the dangers of taking your eyes off the road for just two seconds.''

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Telstra sacks hundreds of Sensis staff

Telstra will shed hundreds of jobs in Melbourne and Sydney. Picture: Bob Finlayson Source: The Australian

TELSTRA has confirmed this morning it is sacking one in five staff at its struggling Sensis business.

The company announced it would slash 648 staff at the group that produces the Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post..

The communications giant is cutting staff in Melbourne and Sydney, in the latest Australian jobs blow.

Community and Public Sector Union national president Michael Tull said the job losses were deeply distressing.

"Sensis staff have been crushed by the scale of these cuts for a company that is part of Telstra which earlier this month posted record half year profits of $1.6 billion," he said.

"The numbers are substantial job cuts.

"They are call centre staff, back of office staff, design work for the ads and printing work."

Mr Tull said that there had been rumours of changes for weeks, but the scale of the job cuts had shocked him.

The company is blaming the rise of online searches for the decline in its print publications, that have landed on doorsteps for decades.

Staff had meetings with managers at 10am today to discuss their future.

The head managers will meet with unions at 3pm today, in a summit that was called after unions heard rumblings about the cuts.

CPSU spokeswoman Teresa Davison said the union would reserve the right to take the cuts to Fair Work Australia if Telstra acted unfairly.

"We're talking to members at the moment and we will be meeting with Sensis at 3pm," she said.

"We have been calling for weeks to discuss this; they were claiming they had not made a decision as recently as Tuesday."

Ms Davison said Telstra was making a short-sighted call.

"Like all large businesses they look at their massive profits dropping,” she said.

"If a $1 billion profit drops to $900 million their response is to sack staff, even though they are still making a huge profit.”

The Sensis business includes Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post.

The traditional print advertising publications have been struggling with competition from online advertising.

Sensis Australia managing director John Allan said the business model was unsustainable.

"Until now we have been operating with an outdated print-based model – this is no longer sustainable for us," he said in a statement.

"Already, more than 60 per cent of our customers now are advertising online and in mobile apps, while our White and Yellow Pages digital services received 18.4m visits in January 2013.

"We need to simplify our operation and invest in areas that make us more efficient, and meet our customers’ growing demand for online and mobile services."

Stephen.drill@news.com.au

View the original article here

Telstra sacks hundreds of staff

Telstra will shed hundreds of jobs in Melbourne and Sydney. Picture: Bob Finlayson Source: The Australian

TELSTRA has confirmed this morning it is sacking one in five staff at its struggling Sensis business.

The company announced it would slash 648 staff at the group that produces the Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post..

The communications giant is cutting staff in Melbourne and Sydney, in the latest Australian jobs blow.

Community and Public Sector Union national president Michael Tull said the job losses were deeply distressing.

"Sensis staff have been crushed by the scale of these cuts for a company that is part of Telstra which earlier this month posted record half year profits of $1.6 billion," he said.

"The numbers are substantial job cuts.

"They are call centre staff, back of office staff, design work for the ads and printing work."

Mr Tull said that there had been rumours of changes for weeks, but the scale of the job cuts had shocked him.

The company is blaming the rise of online searches for the decline in its print publications, that have landed on doorsteps for decades.

Staff had meetings with managers at 10am today to discuss their future.

The head managers will meet with unions at 3pm today, in a summit that was called after unions heard rumblings about the cuts.

CPSU spokeswoman Teresa Davison said the union would reserve the right to take the cuts to Fair Work Australia if Telstra acted unfairly.

"We're talking to members at the moment and we will be meeting with Sensis at 3pm," she said.

"We have been calling for weeks to discuss this; they were claiming they had not made a decision as recently as Tuesday."

Ms Davison said Telstra was making a short-sighted call.

"Like all large businesses they look at their massive profits dropping,” she said.

"If a $1 billion profit drops to $900 million their response is to sack staff, even though they are still making a huge profit.”

The Sensis business includes Yellow Pages, White Pages and the Trading Post.

The traditional print advertising publications have been struggling with competition from online advertising.

Sensis Australia managing director John Allan said the business model was unsustainable.

"Until now we have been operating with an outdated print-based model – this is no longer sustainable for us," he said in a statement.

"Already, more than 60 per cent of our customers now are advertising online and in mobile apps, while our White and Yellow Pages digital services received 18.4m visits in January 2013.

"We need to simplify our operation and invest in areas that make us more efficient, and meet our customers’ growing demand for online and mobile services."

Stephen.drill@news.com.au

View the original article here