E D I T O R I A L

Cry Freedom
If there's a common thread running through this week's issue, it's the continuing crisis faced by workers around the globe confronting the practical reality of Free Trade.

F E A T U R E S

Interview: Cross Wires
Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance chief Chris Warren surveys the fluid state of the Australian media.

International: Two Tribes
As the Middle East burns, Andrew Casey shines a light into one of the world's darkest corners.

Activists: Beneath the Veil
A young Afghani woman has travelled to Australia to put a human face on the suffering of her people - and her gender.

Unions: Terror Australis
When push comes to shove, it appears the Howard Government is more scared of the Maritime Union than Osama Bin Laden, Jim Marr reports.

History: A Labor Footnote To The Royal Funeral
Stephen Holt reports that an intriguing Australian connection has been overlooked amidst the supposedly blanket media coverage of the end of the Bowes Lyon era.

Economics: Private Affluence, Public Rip-Off
New Labour's enthusiasm for business is matched only by its lack of business sense, as the private finance fiasco shows.

Review: The Great Hall of the People
In an extract from the latest issue of Labor Essays, the ARM's Richard Fidler looks at the symbolism behind the Republican debate.

Poetry: Waiting for the Living Wage
The Living Wage Case was heard this week. The workers� voices in this poem have been adapted from the evidence presented by low wage earners to the living wage case.

Satire: Israel Recruits NAB To Close West Bank
Israeli security forces have successfully enlisted the expert help of the National Australia Bank to close down the West Bank.

N E W S

Baby Company Punts Netball Mum

Dairy Workers Win Global Breakthrough

Treasury Modelling Backs ACTU Claim

Bank Nabs Huge Sales Targets

Come Clean � Insurance Giants Challenged

May Day Jam and Toast

Job Security Win For Cabin Crew

Workers Gear-up For Pollution Fight

Shuffling The Deck On The Yarra

New Push On Workplace Crime

Super Child Care Win

Doubts Over Ettalong Wharf Funding

The Sane Monk Stands Down

Fabians Debate Refugees

Activists Notebook

C O L U M N S

The Soapbox
Unions and the Web � Where to Now?
Peter Lewis argues the time has come to revisit how trade unions interact with workers and how the Web could be the catalyst for such a change.

The Locker Room
Free To Where?
Parents with kiddies who play a bit of sport will have noticed the escalating costs associated with their kids being involved in sport.

Week in Review
The Joys of the Chop
Workers come and workers go, right? Well, it�s the way of the world but while some get stiffed, others are stuffed with obscene amounts �

L E T T E R S

WHAT YOU CAN DO

	About Workers Online
	Latest Issue
	Print Latest Issue
	Previous Issues
	Advanced Search

other LaborNET sites

Labor Council of NSW
Vic Trades Hall Council
IT Workers Alliance
Bosswatch
Unions on LaborNET
Evatt Foundation

Protecting Frank's Gonads

**********************

It's been a tough week for the NAB supremo since he unveiled his vision for NAB's future. And what a minimalist vision it is - fewer branches, less staff and a focus on the wealthy. Despite keeping a straight face as he described the 'Position for Growth' (PfG) strategy as a "a good news story", it seems most concur with NAB staff who have dubbed the plan, authored by US consultants McKinsey, 'Protecting Frank's Gonads'. In the past few days he's taken a battering from the markets, his workforce, the media and the general public over the release of the restructure/salvage operation. And rightly so.

With 56 country branches to be closed and 3,400 jobs to go the least Frank could have expected was an enthusiastic market reaction. Even the amoral brokers who habitually reward heartlessness are not impressed by the 'PfG' blueprint, which moves NAB out of consumer banking and into the 'Wealth Management' business.

The news was delivered to NAB staff, unions and the market simultaneously in Frank's weekly video address. That's right the NAB boss runs an extremely cheesy weekly TV show - complete with a pseudo-reporter asking him all the tough questions. Staff are encouraged to watch the address on in-house TV and a few are selected to watch from the studio in NAB's corporate headquarters. The show's called 'National Vision', but we reckon 'True Lies' could fit the bill.

The problem with Frank's 'blueprint' is its lack of detail. The overheads were glossy, but there was very little detail in where the cuts were coming from, when they were coming and what were the prospects for staff getting retraining to fill the new positions that NAB wants to build to extract more from the wealthy. The details were so sketchy that the Finance Sector Union took the matter to the Industrial Relations Commission, seeking to have NAB ordered into bona fide consultation. At which point the rhetoric really heated up with a NAB executive likening the FSU's reaction to the Japanese bombing Pearl Harbour. Given the identity of the aggressor, the US response to the War on Terror would be a more fitting analogy.

Frank's bigger problem is that noone quite believes that the cost-cutting drive is not connected to NAB's disastrous investment in the US - where it not only lost $3.6 billion investing in HomeSide, but gave the US executives behind the debacle a massive golden handshake. As the FSU calculated this week, the US losses would have paid the wages of the 3,600 staff to be cut for the next 35 years.

Then came the ultimate embarrassment. The ANZ offers to step in a take the unwanted country branches - and the unwanted customers - off Frank's hands. This, even though ANZ has branches in 14 of the 56 locations and had told one of the ANZ branches it was slated for closure in April - a decision since reversed. Whether this was cheeky PR play or a serious offer, NAB's refusal just looked self-interested and mean-spirited.

To compound it all is the sinking feeling from the community is that if PfG is a model for modern banking, then it has little to do with banks anymore. NAB would have us all banking online and using the post office to deposit our cash. Meanwhile NAB would put its resources into 'wealth management' - cherry-picking those with assets, investing big wads of their savings and skimming off the commission. This might be a business model for a broking house, but it is not a banking plan.

The joke by the end of the week was that the definition of an 'optimist' was someone at NAB who ironed five business shirts for the week. Given the reaction of PfG, Frank shouldn't be wasting much time at the ironing board himself.

Show Us YOUR TOOL! The most inspiring interpretation of this week's tool get's a souvenir edition of Ship of Tools. Deface the Tool of the Week, click the button above to post your artwork, fill out the form and send your entry in and we'll post the winners next week in the Tool of the Week Gallery.

Ship of Tools - All the tools in one shed!

Nominate a Tool!

  View entire issue - print all of the articles!

  Issue 131 contents

© 1999-2002 Workers Online
Workers Online is a resource for the Labour movement
provided by the Labor Council of NSW
URL: http://workers.labor.net.au/131/d_pierswatch_frank.html
Last Modified: 15 Nov 2005