Workers Online
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Workers Online
  Issue No 6 Official Organ of LaborNet 26 March 1999  

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News

Mergers Wave To Hit Insurance Industry


Finance sector workers are bracing for a wave of mergers in the insurance industry which they fear will undermine job security and affect their ability to serve the public.

 
 

City Braces for Big Boys

Following on the heels of a series of bank mergers which transformed that industry into one of overwork and precarious employment, the mergers of big insurance firms like FAI and HIH is seen as the start of a similar process.

Already employers in an industry which has been characterised by secure, full-time jobs are employing more part-time and casual workers.

And with big unions like that proposed by AMP and GIO on the horizon, the Finance Sector Union fears large-scale job cuts are on the agenda.

FSU assistant secretary Kirsty Campbell told Workers Online the union was working with its membership to resist the excesses that accompanied the mergers in the banking sector.

"All mergers are about economies of scale," she said. "They're a cost cutting exercise which places the interests of the shareholder above that of the staff and the general public.

"We've seen the effect of mergers and takeovers with banks, with closures, queues and higher charges. The insurance industry has a very big challenge ahead. That challenge is how to address the needs of staff and customers in the face of the demands of shareholders."

The FSU is mobilising to meet the merger challenge, helped by their own integration of banking and insurance sections.

"I think a lot of the lessons learned during the bank mergers will be helpful in the insurance sector too," Campbell said.

As a first step, the FSU is looking at its own performance and has released the results of independent polling of insurance workplaces conducted in February which highlights the Union's high profile, but indicates more organisation is needed.

Key results included:

- 75 per cent of insurance workers surveyed believe that most or everybody is aware of the FSU

- 78 per cent had recently seen a bulletin from the Union

- but only 52 per cent were sure they had an FSU rep in their workplace.

"The survey results confirmed that we need to organise on the ground more in insurance," said Campbell, who has primary responsibility for insurance workplaces.

The results demonstrated a demand for more workplace visits by FSU Officials (47%) and for more written information (55%) - results the Union will act on.

"It certainly backs up our decision to provide more resources for insurance organising, and we are already seeing the results." says Kirsty.

Among recent wins are new commitments from GIO to job security protections and to enterprise bargaining - commitments which have taken years to secure.

None of this is news to GIO employee, Robert Mills: "Given the massive changes in our industry, the best way to protect my job and conditions was to get organised with other FSU members. We got the backup from the Union office, and it has made a real difference."

The survey also showed a wide range of insurance employees joined the Union, and that attitudes towards the FSU were similar across ages, salaries and lengths of service. The survey will be repeated in May to test the impact of new communication and service strategies.


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*   Issue 6 contents

In this issue
Features
*  Interview: Jeff Shaw - Keeping the Peace in NSW
We talk to the Carr Government's best minister about his plans and aspirations for a second term.
*
*  Unions: Labor's IR Promises
Read the full ALP Industrial Relations policy. Only on Workers Online!
*
*  History: A History of Struggle on the Wharves
As the first anniversary of the Reith-Corrigan assault on the waterfront approaches, we remember that it was only the latest in a long line of attacks on the union.
*
*  Review: Rats in the Ranks
This Australian political masterpiece about the battle for power in an inner-city council is well worth going back to.
*
*  Campaign Diary: It's Time For a Real Labor Government
A returned Carr Government must use its increased majority to promote a genuine Labor agenda rather than just clinging to power for another four years.
*

News
»  '96 Revisited - Ditched Laws May Get Second Run
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»  Opposition IR - A Dog�s Breakfast
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»  Union Plan To Give Mobile Workers Security
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»  Mergers Wave To Hit Insurance Industry
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»  AAP Pushes To Create Virtual Reporters
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»  Wharfies Help Out Aboriginal Kids
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»  ACTU Asks Workers: How�s Life?
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»  Bracks Gets Pallas Envoy
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»  South Coast Labor Council Battle Heads for Court
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Columns
»  Guest Report
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»  Sport
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»  Trades Hall
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»  Piers Watch
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Letters to the editor
»  I Can Out-amble Howard!
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»  Independent Performers Register
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»  Give Gen X a Job Share
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»  Help a Law Student Pass
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