Media releases

The job losses affect tellers and personal bankers in every state and are part of Westpac’s earlier announcement to cut 200 retail job cuts as bank continues to migrate retail functions to online.

The union says it is deeply disappointed that Westpac is jumping the gun on these job cuts when only last month, the it agreed to establish a $5 million capability fund to support existing retail staff to upskill for the future.

Westpac should hold their promise and further develop and establish the fund to provide opportunities for affected workers, not rush through these cuts without proper consultation ahead of the holiday period.

The union calls on Westpac to delay all cuts until after Christmas and to use the time to genuinely consult with workers on a fair and transparent process that includes redeployment or voluntary redundancy.

Finance Sector Union National President Wendy Streets said:

“Westpac is jumping the gun and cutting jobs less than two months from Christmas, when it should be developing its $5 million capability fund to support workers and provide better opportunities to those who are displaced.

“These are tellers and personal bankers who have stood by customers during a difficult few years and they deserve respect, consultation and the time to make real decisions about their future, without being rushed out the door.

“Westpac has a choice: it can pause these cuts and treat its people with fairness and decency and work with us to find solutions, or it can prove that its choosing the path of chaos and putting profits over people.

“Westpac has made a big show or promising to invest in its people by setting up a fund, yet now they’re cutting the very workers this fund was supposed to support.”

Media contact: Kate Shuttleworth – 0447 418 726