Last week we wrote to Premier Mark McGowan to condemn Westpac’s announcement that it is closing its Customer Care Centre in Western Australia. It’s a story that’s become depressingly familiar.
While the loss of a job is always challenging, for those of us in the West, the tyranny of distance makes it that much harder to find another job.
It’s why we’re asking our members in West Australia to write to Premier Mark McGowan, to call for action on the loss of financial jobs in the West.
Since the beginning of 2020 more than 500 bank branches have closed around Australia, and at least 56 have closed in West Australia.
Losing access to financial services can be devastating for a community but we have a big problem in our sector: the Big Four are too big to care. At least that’s what management seem to believe.
You see it in how they treat their staff, their customers, their communities. Yes – there are exceptions – there are good bosses, but the problem is bigger than one person.
That’s why we need our leaders at both a state and federal level to take action on this issue.