Change proposals are nothing new in the finance sector. Organisations are forever looking at ways to cut costs, which, unfortunately, often means employees being asked to do more with less.
What feels different right now, however, is the speed at which employers are moving and with seemingly little, if any, regard for the very real human toll.
Over the past month alone, we’ve seen ANZ announce 3500 job cuts – an obscene number that represents roughly 14% of the bank’s Australian workforce.
At Bendigo Bank, a proposed change will impact more than 600 workers, with 145 jobs to go. That’s on top of the so-called ‘community’ bank shutting its regional branches and gutting its entire agency network across five states.
Meanwhile, Bank of Queensland is proposing to cut 185 local jobs, while turning to offshoring and automation practices to boost profits.
And at NAB, hundreds of workers are facing redundancies, with 750 jobs to be impacted.
All the while, these organisations continue to post record profits.
In most instances, consultation from management has been appalling. We’ve seen attempt after attempt to rush what should be an opportunity for affected employees to fully understand the proposed changes and provide meaningful feedback.
From accidentally informing staff about their redundancies via automated emails, to employees hearing about the proposed 3500 cuts on the news or from loved ones before being told – ANZ’s behaviour over recent months has been particularly shocking.
Unsurprisingly, it has resulted in a level of chaos that is having serious impacts on people’s health and safety. ANZ employees can add their voice to our calls for management to meet their duty of care requirements and deliver tangible support to workers.
As one ANZ member recently said, “I have never in my life experienced such job insecurity and gaslighting as I have since this new CEO has taken hold. I can’t even begin to speak to the incredibly devastated work culture that now lingers.”
ANZ’s claim that there will be “limited impacts to frontline customer facing roles” indicates management either don’t understand the full impact of gutting 3500 jobs, or they simply haven’t considered it.
We suspect it’s probably both.
FSU National Secretary Julia Angrisano said it demonstrated precisely why consultation requirements are built into our industrial instruments and laws.
“With so much change happening across the entire finance industry, including with the adoption of AI, workers have the legal right to genuine engagement and an opportunity to have their voices heard,” Julia said.
“Apart from it being common decency, there are many good reasons why this is the case.
“It is impossible for CEOs and executives making these decisions to understand the role and function of every single employee. Therefore, how can they know the full consequences of slashing thousands of jobs unless they speak to those people affected?
“At the end of the day, these are real people with jobs, families and livelihoods, not numbers on a spreadsheet.”
Fortunately, our industrial relations system provides various avenues for fighting back when employers fail to meet their legal obligations.
Over the past few months, the FSU has filed multiple disputes in the Fair Work Commission. Many are still ongoing, though we have had some success with forcing employers to either rethink their strategy (CBA’s backflip on replacing 45 jobs with AI) or explain in greater detail where their proposed cuts will come from and how they were determined.
It’s important that workers understand their legal and industrial rights and entitlements when management propose significant changes.
All enterprise agreements negotiated by our union contain a clause that requires management to undertake certain steps before final decisions are made, including:
After consultation ends, employees whose roles are made redundant and who are unable to be redeployed are entitled to redundancy – something that is determined either by the Banking, Finance and Insurance Award or, if one exists, the Enterprise Agreement.
And of course, workplaces that have high union membership will always be in a better position to collectively make their voices heard.
Why? When an employer knows that the majority of their employees are represented by the union, we have more power to negotiate things like no forced retrenchments and improved redundancy payments.
Our union will always be there for members who are facing stressful changes at work.
“Unfortunately, it is not always possible to prevent job cuts,” Julia said.
“What is possible is balancing the power dynamic between workers and employers, and ensuring we are provided the fair go we deserve.
“Tragically, too often do employers spectacularly fail to meet their minimum requirements, as the last few months have shown, so having the union in your corner is one of the most powerful things you can do to protect yourself.”
If you need support or want advice when it comes to your rights at work, contact our Member Rights Centre on 1300 366 378.
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