TELSTRA is set to slash up to 1400 jobs across the country as part of a deep cost-cutting drive that could wipe out nearly 5 per cent of its workforce.
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Employees across all divisions, including in the telecommunication giant's vast field workforce of line technicians, maintenance and installation workers, are all feared to be in danger of losing their jobs.
Union officials said workers had been left in the dark, and had only learned of the looming job cuts through media reports.
"It's disrespectful to our members, their families and the union," said John O'Donnell, assistant divisional secretary of the Communication Workers Union.
"We need accurate details from Telstra. We are waiting on a document from them to provide that information."
Mr O'Donnell said union officials were scheduled to meet with management to discuss the retrenchments at 2pm on Thursday.
It is understood Telstra chief executive Andrew Penn may take the unusual step of personally announcing the changes.
Staff were being briefed on the cuts throughout the day on Wednesday. Telstra has more than 32,000 full-time employees across Australia.
At midday, Telstra shares were 0.2 per cent higher at $4.39.
In November, Telstra revealed plans to cut fixed costs by more than $1 billion over the next five years.
