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Issue No. 322 | 01 September 2006 |
Justice, Applied Liberally
Interview: Australia�s Most Wanted Industrial: The Fox and the Contractor Unions: Industrial Wasteland International: Two Bob's Worth Economics: National Interest Environment: The Real Dinosaur History: Only In Spain? Review: Clerk Off
First Global Deal Docks in Germany Deportation for Pay-To-Work Tradesman Ballots Stuffed By WorkChoices
Legends The Soapbox Obituary Fiction
Labor Council of NSW |
News Bankers to Train Assassins
Bankers Trust, the Westpac investment arm, has told 77 Adelaide based staff in the retail administration processes area their jobs will go to lower cost Indian labour.
Finance Sector Union national secretary, Paul Schroder, says the BT workers who had been offered the cash to train their replacements were placed in a difficult position, with the incentive payment an 'insidious device'. The announcement came as Westpac employees at the Concord Services area in Sydney protested the potential loss of 480 jobs to off-shoring. Rallying this week, the Concord workers have endorsed a campaign to pressure the bank, which is reviewing the Transactions and Unsecured Lending Operations (TULO). The unit handles sensitive information including dishonoured cheques, deceased estates, subpoenas, electronic payrolls and some electronic and internet banking operations. Mr Shroder has accused Westpac of entering a race to the bottom on labour costs that shows scant regard for loyal Australian employees or for the long term future of the Australian finance sector." "It's not about genuine investment in India, it's not about passing savings to customers (since when have banks passed savings to their customers), it's not about Australia not having enough skills - it's just about reducing costs by exploiting cheaper labour markets," Shroder says "We know the public wants Australian companies, especially Australian banks who are given a license to print money by our government, to invest in Australian jobs and skills. "We know that Australian companies don't want their personal financial details sent offshore, and we know that the Australian public wants their government to act on these matters now." "The danger for Westpac and others going down the same track is they will ruin their reputations with employees, customers and other stakeholders. Not to mention the damage they will do to the Australian finance industry." BT also announced further outsourcing of its Sydney based IT functions resulting in 40 more jobs lost.
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