
Issue No 91		06 April 2001

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News

Banks Workers Show They’re No Bunnies

The Finance Sector Union is using Easter as the launching-pad for a campaign for fair pay and achievable workloads.

The FSU has sent an Easter Card to all its members, with the text :"I believe in fair pay and achievable workloads. If the Easter Bunny doesn't bring them, we just might have to get them ourselves!"

The cards are the precursor to an industry-wide industrial campaign after the Easter break.

The campaign is stepping up as, for the first time, employees in the four major banks - Westpac, ANZ, National Australia Bank and Commonwealth Bank - are negotiating new enterprise agreements simultaneously.

FSU National Secretary Tony Beck says unions are mounting a coordinated campaign in the four big banks to press a better deal for both customers and staff.

'Banks have been singing the same negative tune with their destructive agenda of job losses and branch closures for years,' Beck says.

'Despite claims of social responsibility, banks are planning many more branch closures and job losses. We already know of 250 branch closures and 4000 jobs that are set to be slashed.

Bank employees from the big four banks are meeting across the nation to authorise a formal bargaining period.

'It's the first time we've got Westpac, ANZ, CBA and NAB staff together for an industrial campaign. Its obvious that the banks behave like a club - similar fees, cuts to staff, products and branch closures,' Beck says.

'Both our members and the public say the big bank are all as bad as each other! The big banks have given banking a bad name and bank employees are copping the flack.

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  Issue 91 contents

Interview: Costa on Compo
Labor Council’s secretary gives his take on the Big Stink over Della’s workers compensation package.

Politics: Della's List
All Labor members of Parliament were this week asked to indicate whether they would support injured workers. More than half said 'yes'. Here they are.

Unions: Picketing Joy
Rowan Cahill chronicled the definitive dispute of 2000 for Workers Online. He looks back on the battle and the lessons to be drawn from the workers at Joy.

History: Vale Tony Mulvihill
The environment, migrant workers and the hairy nosed wombat have reason to be thankful for the active citizenship of Tony Mulvihill.

Economics: Stopping the Rot
A national campaign is underway to persuade politicians from both the major parties that they need to be addressing the issue of poverty within Australia.

International: East Timor – Beyond the Headlines
It’s now more than 18 months since the violence and bloodshed following the popular consultation on the future of East Timor was front page news in Australia.

Technology: Online Breathing Space
The global collapse of faith in new technology has given journalists a chance to prepare themselves for the real revolution, writes David Higgins

Satire: Howard Cuts Beer Price to Get Voters Drunk
Prime Minister John Howard has agreed to cut the excise on beer, in the hope cheaper drinks will help get the country drunk enough to vote for him.

Review: The Battle for 96.9Fm is Over
What would you get if you crossed 2DAY FM, 2MMM, JJJ and MIX 106.5 FM? A fairly commercial radio station that wouldn’t know the difference between throwing up, stuffing up, growing up or breaking up.

» Compo Wars: Week Two to the Workers!

» Doctors Don’t Want to be Judges

» Cops Eye Ball Compo Changes

» Armoured Car Drivers To Consider Stop Work

» IT Workers – We Need You!

» Banks Workers Show They’re No Bunnies

» English Teachers Ripped Off

» Beazley Gives Boost To Bakery Workers

» Employment, Environment Vital to US-Australia Trade Deal

» Extra $1.37 Billion Needed for Unis

» Campaigning Workshop Establishes Local Campaign Initiative

» Activist Notebook