ANZ breaks 10-year bargaining drought
The Finance Sector Union and ANZ yesterday announced that 87 per cent of participating staff voted in favour of a union-negotiated workplace agreement, the first for ANZ in more than a decade.The two-year deal delivers annual pay increases of up to four per cent for the bank's 23,500 Australian staff, depending on the rating they achieve in their annual performance review.Those who hit their targets will win the full four per cent increase (this year back-dated to September), with two per cent going to those assessed at the next level down. But there is no guaranteed increase for employees that fall below the mark.The agreement also formalises the bank's existing 12-week paid parental leave offering and introduces a dispute resolution process that enables both parties to access arbitration.The Fair Work Act has also forced the other three big banks, which have a more adversarial approach (ANZ, CBA and Westpac), to engage with the Finance Sector Union and reach agreements.Collective agreements now apply at each of the major banks, including BankWest, the St George operations of CBA and Westpac.