Enterprise bargaining at an ‘inflection point’ after FSU revises Bankwest pay claim

George Lekakis

FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano

In a move almost certain to make waves across the banking industry, the Finance Sector Union yesterday signalled a shift in its wages bargaining strategy after it submitted a revised enterprise pay claim to Bankwest management.
 
While Bankwest and the union have been negotiating a new three-year enterprise deal since the end of last year, the FSU has amended its claim to include pay rises linked directly to movements in consumer inflation.
 
Under the revised pay claim, the union is demanding the CBA banking subsidiary deliver base pay rises of 3.25 per cent in the first year of the agreement and 3 per cent in the second and third years.
 
The base pay claim mirrors the wage rises that were secured under the CBA enterprise deal last year.
 
However, the FSU is also seeking agreement for Bankwest to index staff pay against movements in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in the event that those movements exceed the base pay increases negotiated under the enterprise deal.
 
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano told Banking Day that enterprise bargaining in the financial services industry was now at an “inflection point” because of the negative potential for rising consumer prices to undermine workers’ real incomes.
 
“We now find ourselves at an inflection point in the banking industry because of the threat that inflation poses to our members’ standard of living,” she said.
 
“In our negotiations with Bankwest on Wednesday morning we put a revised pay claim to the bank that guarantees staff will receive the same pay rises as CBA workers or pay rises tied to the CPI if they are higher.”
 
Angrisano said the union was opening enterprise talks with other banks in coming months including Westpac and National Australia Bank.
 
She signalled that the FSU would be looking to include similar CPI-linked pay conditions in agreements with each of these banks.
 
“Wages have stagnated for a long time in the banking industry and as inflation starts to rise workers are expecting to get their fair share of the rewards for contributing to the banks they’ve worked for throughout the pandemic,” Angrisano said.
 
“Our future pay claims will be designed to ensure that our members can meet cost of living increases.”
 
The FSU’s shift on pay is being mirrored by unions in other industries such as construction and manufacturing where new pay claims are being linked to prospective movements in consumer inflation.