Telstra delaying NBN rollout: union officials One of the exposed pits in Penrith, NSW. Telstra has been accused of deliberate delaying the national broadband network rollout to see who wins the federal election. Telstra ordered a stop to remediation work on its cement pits after unions raised concerns in May that untrained labourers were working with asbestos. Now the same officials from the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union claim subcontractors for both Telstra and NBN Co have been unnecessarily deprived of work for nine weeks. A Telstra spokeswoman denied the allegations, saying the safety of workers and contractors was a priority - "something we thought the unions would have supported us on" However, national CEPU official, David Mier, used emotional language to describe the plight of workers in limbo. Subcontractors were "going broke and losing their houses" and if any suicided under financial stress it would be "blood on Telstra's hands," he said. Mr Mier said enough subcontractors had received sufficient asbestos training in recent weeks to return to work, but that Telstra was using "delaying tactics" to slow down the rollout ahead of the federal election. "[Telstra] do not want them back to work because [Telstra] are running [Malcolm] Turnbull's agenda," Mr Mier said. Prior to us telling them to stop work [Telstra] were happy to continue with untrained blokes on their network. Now that they are adequately trained they are saying 'the [Telstra] board has to decide when we go back to work'. Telstra would benefit from keeping as many premises as possible on its copper network, Mr Mier claims, because the Coalition's policy retains the copper network whereas NBN Co has a mandate to replace copper with fibre connections at 93 per cent of Australian premises. A Telstra spokeswoman said it understood the impact the stop-work may have on subcontractors, but denied suggestions it was delaying a return to work for any reason other than safety. We have a contract to deliver. The value of the NBN Co agreement comes not only from building and providing access to the infrastructure but also from disconnecting customers from our copper network - it makes no sense for us to delay. Telstra must clean and stabilise much of its infrastructure before NBN Co subcontractors can install the fibre-optic cables, as part of a multi-billion dollar deal between the two companies. The Telstra spokeswoman said it found training deficiencies following an audit of contractors and ordered contractors and subcontractors to complete "mandatory training in asbestos management" before remediation works could resume. A task-force including officials from NBN Co, Telstra, ComCare, the new Asbestos Safety and Eradication Council, has met six times in the past nine weeks to discuss asbestos training. An NBN Co spokesman said large-scale civil works and above-ground work continued despite Telstra's halt. We support Telstra wholeheartedly in its decision and are currently reviewing what impact it may have on the rollout schedule in the medium term. Contractors Visionstream and Silcar declined to comment on the impact of the work ban. Up to 20 per cent of Telstra's 8 million pits contain asbestos. These pits sit under roads and footpaths and provide access to Telstra and other companies" underground cables and wires. Support is available for anyone who may be distressed by phoning Lifeline 13 11 14.