FSU member Richard Dompedro wasn’t quite ready to retire from his 48-year banking career. He loved his team and still found the work enjoyable.
But when Westpac increased their in-office attendance requirement, it was the final straw that drove Richard into early retirement.
“My goal was always to retire and spend more time with family and grandkids and eventually caravan around Australia,” Richard said, adding that that’s exactly what he and his wife now intend to do.
“Still, I would’ve been happy continuing to work for maybe another two years because of being able to work from home.
“My commute was a three-hour round trip, so working from home was a game-changer.
“Then suddenly it didn’t suit Westpac and for whatever reason they said we had to come back in. You feel like a puppet.”
Like most finance workers who have proved that working from home is a win-win for both employees and employers, Richard couldn’t make sense of Westpac’s decision to increase their office attendance, claiming he felt more productive at home.
“I reject the banks’ arguments about slowing productivity and the mental wellbeing benefits of being in the office and collaborating. Technology has changed all that.
“We had a lot of meetings via Teams where you’d talk to people, so you’re not missing out on anything.
“In my view, when you’re in the office you’re less productive. You get up to stretch your legs and go talk to your colleagues about the V8 supercars, rugby league, caravanning or whatever, and you lose productivity.
“With work from home, you get up in the morning, you don’t have to travel, so all of a sudden you’re in a better mental state to start work, you push the button on your computer and away you go.”
The banking sector Richard leaves behind is very different to the one he entered back in 1977.
“Back then, if you worked for a bank, you were looked up to and respected,” Richard reflected.
“I didn’t expect that. It’s changed a lot now – these days, people don’t like the big banks, and rightly so, because of the horrendous profits they make at the expense of their customers.”
That’s not a reflection on the people who work for them. Richard said it has always been the case that the employees are what make a bank human. In fact, providing excellent customer service was the thing that drove him throughout his career.
“I loved working in customer-facing roles,” he said.
“Every time I got transferred to another branch, there were customers who were sad to see me go. You’re more than just a worker to them because you see them regularly.
“Helping elderly customers was always rewarding. If I saw an elderly person walk in, I never expected them to line up in the queue, I’d tell them to go sit down.
“And I got a lot out of it too – just seeing the look of relief and gratitude for that, which to me wasn’t a big deal, given I was going to serve them regardless, but to them it made a big difference.”
Reflecting on the past 48 years, Richard said the adoption of new technologies had transformed the banking sector – and by extension, his own career.
“There have been a lot of changes since 1977 – some good, some not so good, and some downright disgraceful,” Richard said.
“In terms of the good changes, technology aided a lot of tedious processes that made jobs easier.
“Fortunately, technology never replaced my work, but it did aid me to do my job quicker and more efficiently.
“Indirectly, though, as these hungry banks got onto introducing technology and started reducing staff, it meant that those left had to row the boat much quicker.
“And in terms of the disgraceful changes, nothing gets my blood boiling more than offshoring. Steam comes out of my ears.
“I’ve been very vocal speaking against it, to the point where I wasn’t a favourite in upper management’s eyes. I was a constant thorn in their side.
“How a bank can justify making experienced and loyal Australian staff redundant in favour of inexperienced overseas staff is hurtful and ludicrous and one I will never accept or forgive.
“The bank never considered the immediate low standard of work returned onshore, not to mention the compensation it’s had to pay due to customer complaints.
“You would expect the bank would want to be a good corporate citizen and demonstrate it supports Australian workers – the very same who made the bank what it was for over 200 years.
“Sadly, that’s not the case. Shame, Westpac, shame.”
This outspokenness led to Richard becoming involved in the union at the start of his career – though growing up with a father who was a staunch unionist, perhaps this was always inevitable.
“I’ve participated in every aspect of union action possible – stop work meetings, strikes, I was always in there,” said Richard.
“When you step on a worker too much, and he or she gets angry, they want action. Well, the best action you can take as a worker is industrial action.”
One of the proudest moments of Richard’s career was addressing thousands of angry Westpac workers at a stop work meeting in the 90s.
“Westpac decided to open up their mortgage processing centre in Adelaide. They were sneaky bastards, no one knew it was happening until it appeared on the TV that Westpac were sending all these jobs to Adelaide.
“So next morning at work it was one big upheaval. The union called a stop work meeting at the town hall in Sydney.
“I got up to the microphone and said, ‘No, we’re not going back to work, I vote we go on strike right here and now’.
“The whole place erupted and we were on strike for a day or two.”
It’s the kind of scene you’d be hard pressed to replicate today – though as he leaves the world of banking and embarks on his caravan adventure around Australia, Richard has this advice for finance workers, especially those just starting their career:
“First of all, join a union.
“Second of all, join a union.
“Third of all, join a union.
“Fourth of all: now that you’ve joined your union, for God’s sake, support them to the hills.
“I am sick of people saying, ‘What’s the union ever done for me?’ The things that we take for granted today – sick leave, parental leave, holiday loading, whatever – unionists of the past went on strike for these things.
“You’ve got to keep carrying the ball. If you’re up against a ruthless employer, you’ve got to be on your toes.
“And if you’re not a union member, you’ve got to row the boat by yourself.”
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