CBA ends Bankwest’s standalone employer status, union warns of risks to conditions
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The news: Digital bank Bankwest has lost its status as a standalone employer after its owner, Commonwealth Bank, notified staff it will no longer employ new workers under the Bankwest entity.
The numbers: The Finance Sector Union (FSU) said the major bank's plan to combine the Bankwest enterprise agreement with CBA’s puts the working conditions of 1,400 Bankwest staff at “significant risk”.
The moves follows years of continued transformation by CBA, including the closure of the Bankwest retail branches, Bankwest Business Banking and Bankwest Private Banking.
The FSU says it would “strip Bankwest workers of their ability to meaningfully fight for their pay, conditions and job security, and risk eroding existing, hard-fought conditions unique to Bankwest".
The union said Bankwest workers are against the move and have launched a petition to CBA chief executive Matt Comyn, calling on the bank to maintain the subsidiary as a separate entity and to respect the workers’ rights to bargain under their own agreement.
The FSU expects CBA to commence bargaining in February.
What they said: “CBA is essentially calling it quits on Bankwest by making this the end of Bankwest as an employing entity,” said FSU national president Wendy Streets.
“They want to disappear the Bankwest brand, but our members have worked hard to protect Bankwest’s unique culture and identity in WA.
“This move also sets up a situation where around 1,400 workers could be forced to bargain alongside more than 33,000 Commonwealth Bank workers. That is not a level playing field.”
The source: FSU media release
