Commonwealth Bank will force a ballot of all employees over a proposed (and long delayed) Enterprise Agreement that the Finance Sector Union labels a “con-job”.
The bank has given a lot of ground in bargaining with the industry union over the level of proposed pay rises, but CBA is holding out over fostering more independent employment contracts outside the scope of the Enterprise Agreement, and phasing out rostered days off.
In an abrasive statement yesterday, FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano labelled Commonwealth Bank “unrepentant wage thieves” over underpayments uncovered in 2019.
She accused the bank with pushing ahead with a vote “that will further erode the basic entitlements of staff who have already been the victims of massive systemic wage theft.
“The FSU won’t stand by and allow CBA to pressure its workers to accept a defective Enterprise Agreement that seeks to legitimise and perpetuate the practices which caused the massive wage theft uncovered in 2019,” Angrisano said.
“CBA’s proposed Agreement would effectively refit the rules to allow the bank to continue the unlawful behaviour of the past without consequence.”
More than 30,000 CBA staff will be asked to vote on the EA in a vote overseen by the Fair Work Commission.
The outcome of a recent, unsuccessful, vote of FSU members at CBA over proposed protected industrial action shows the FSU has a bit more than 5000 members.
In December, with the union ballot over protected action underway, CBA upgraded its offer to an across the board pay rise of 3.25 per cent for the majority of its staff whose employment conditions are defined by the enterprise agreement.
For those staff subject to separate agreements or unique employment contracts the bank proposed to limit any pay rise of 3.25 per cent to those earning up to A$75,000.
For those on a salary band of $75,000 to $110,000 the bank’s offer is a pay rise of 2.25 per cent.