It’s only a few days until the ballot opens for our new enterprise agreement and hundreds of BOQ workers right across the country have told us that they will be voting No next Monday.
We are voting No to:
- Below inflation wage increases which mean real-world pay cuts while the ex-CEO got 14% and senior execs received an average of 8% this year;
- Slashing redundancy entitlements for new starters and ME Bank staff while the ex-CEO received a $1.1M payout;
- Cutting hard-fought terms and conditions of workers who contributed to BOQ’s 15% increase in net profit.
See here for a full analysis of BOQ’s dodgy offer.
Our AGM questions to interim CEO
We raised BOQ’s dodgy offer to the interim CEO/Chairman at their AGM earlier this week and asked the following questions:
“How can BOQ justify its below-inflation wage increases for its staff while executives received hefty pay increases?” and “How can BOQ propose changes to redundancy entitlements to its employees whilst the former CEO leaves with a $1.1M golden handshake”
You can view the AGM question and responses here but a key takeaway from Interim CEO/Chairman Patrick Allaway (apart from defending the $1.1M payment to George Frazis and hefty executive pay increases) is his statement that “In attempting to negotiate a fair outcome for our people, we do reflect very heavily on the increased cost of living and inflation. We hope that that’s a temporary phenomenon”. Their below-inflation wage increases suggest otherwise.
BOQ bosses will be on the hard sell over the coming days as BOQ don’t want you to Vote No. This is not at all surprising as they know a No vote means it will cost them more.
To help you see through the boss’s commentary we have created the below ‘BOQ Bosses Bingo’ activity. With your colleagues, mark off each of the statements as you hear them. Let us know at fsuinfo@fsunion.org.au if you have a complete vertical or horizontal line to go into the draw to win a prize!
In the meantime, continue to speak to your colleagues about why they should Vote No next week and ask them to commit to Vote No here.
Finally, we want to take the opportunity to welcome those new members who have joined the FSU as part of your BOQ EA campaign. If you know of anyone who is not a member, talk to them about how important your collective strength is in delivering a better offer and ask them to join today.
