
Issue No 104		27 July 2001

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Community Banks Are No Collectivists

Community banks would not gain community support if they persisted with employment policies that forced workers onto individual contracts, the NSW trade union movement has warned.

As Bendigo Bank attempts to roll out community banking across the nation, the Finance Sector Union has raised concerns that it is provided using Australian Workplace Agreements as the framework for employment relationships.

Only where a community specifically requests otherwise will a collective agreement be offered.

FSU state secretary Geoff Derrick says that the community needs to be wary before endorsing community banking was more than a cute marketing slogan.

Derrick says Bendigo Bank was one of the first employers to embrace non-union enterprise agreements under the 1993 Brereton laws and had taken up AWAs with equal gusto.

"If they want to market their product on the grounds that the big banks are bastards, then that's fine," Derrick says. "But our support will require proper behaviour by you as an employer and as a corporate entity."

Derrick has called on all unions and their members who are involved in community groups examining the community bank concept to demand a collective agreement be the basis of the employment relationship.

He warned that without this, the community banks will actually erode industry standards by giving the major banks grounds to argue that they too must impose AWA s to remain competitive with the new industry player.

The FSU is arguing that the Bendigo Bank should be working with the trade union movement to establish appropriate employment frameworks before any proposal is taken to any community group.

One option could be to establish a common rule state award which would rope all community banks into a minimum set of wages and conditions.

"It is only on this basis that the trade union movement should consider supporting the community banking initiative," Derrick says.

Industrial Action Hits NAB

Meanwhile, the campaigns against the Big Four Banks is gathering pace, with FSU members to take industrial action in the National Australia Bank in the week ahead.

Staff in NAB's mail and proofing centres in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will walk off the job for 24 hours on Monday, bringing the bank's internal systems to a halt.

The FSU says the action will jam the bank's ability to distribute work and information to its extensive netowrk across the eastern seaboard.

And stoppage at the bank's proofing centre on Tuesday will stop the bank earning interest on deposits via the money market.

"Mail mand Proof centre staff are some of the lowest paid NAB workers," Derrick says.

"Mail and Proof centre staff are particularly concerns about the threat of the bank out-sourcing their work - as has been ithe case in some of the other major banks."

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  Issue 104 contents

Interview: A Super Agenda
Labor's federal spokesman on superannuation Kelvin Thompson outlines the challenges a Beazley Government will face in managing the nation's savings.

E-Change: 1.4 The Shifting Sands of Ideology
Peter Lewis and Michael Gadiel conclude the first part of their study of new politics by looking for core Labor values in a post-Cold War environment.

Corporate: Locking Horns
The same names keep cropping up in the business pages as the web of corporate control stays tied to a few big players. Georgina Murray has been looking at the extent and depth of the connections.

Unions: The Workers Bank
With banks on the nose, David Whiteley looks at how unions and super funds have got together to create the real deal � the workers bank.

International: Phil Davey's Amazon Postcard
The CFMEU's Boy Wonder has downed the megaphone for three months in South America. Here's what he's been up to.

History: Faded Vision of The American Bounder
King O'Malley was an American ex-pat who dreamed of a people's bank. Neale Towart looks at what happened to his vision.

Activists: The Big Gee-Up
With the big guns of the anti-corporate movement in town, Mark Hebblewhite goes looking for a definition of globalisation.

Indonesia: Where to the Workers After Gus Dur?
At the end of a turbulent week, Jasper Goss looks at the impact of the overthrow of Wahid on Indonesian workers.

Review: Mixing Pop and Politics
'The Bank' is a new Australian film that takes a contemporary political issue and transforms it into a piece of compelling popular culture.

Satire: Milosevic's Defence: "I Was Just Issuing Orders"
Disgraced former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic has brushed off against charges for war crimes against humanity and mass genocide.

» Community Banks Are No Collectivists

» Labor Vows to Widen Royal Commission

» WorkCover Finally Fesses Up � Premiums the Problem

» Unions Launch 56 Hour Watch

» Call Centre Campaign Bares First Fruit

» Justice at Last for One.Tel Workers

» Entitlements Push Gathers Momentum

» Employer Dirty on Leave Win

» Rights Put In Too Hard Basket

» AMA Move on Doctors� Hours Welcome

» Aussie Post Workers Rally

» Strike by Airport Guards Lawful

» Workers Rejects Brough Deal

» Unions Will March at CHOGM

» Average Response to Robberies

» Coca-Cola Sued for Using Paramilitary Force

» Activists Notebook