The Finance Sector Union has accused CUA of using COVID-19 as “cover” to explain away job cut and branch closures.

CUA is closing branches in Maryborough in Queensland and Corrimal in New South Wales and is relocating work from Sydney to Brisbane. The FSU said 25 jobs will be lost.

The union said there was little or no opportunity for staff to redeploy. The branches will close in August.

FSU representative Wendy Streets said in a statement: “On top of walking away from negotiating new enterprise agreement, now CUA is closing branches, reducing services and, worst of all, moving towards redundancies.”

Street accused CUA of using COVID-19 as a “cynical ploy” to boost its bottom line.

A CUA spokesperson told Banking Day: “CUA continually reviews and transforms its branch network and operations so we are meeting changing member needs. Like many other financial institutions the way our members do their banking has changed, particularly with regard to branches, and there has been a significant decline in visitors to both our Maryborough and Corrimal branches in recent years. As a result, these branches will permanently close.

“We understand this will inconvenience some members but we continue to invest in a range of other channels, including our broader branch network as well as digital and contact centre channels. A key priority in any operational change is to minimise job impacts – we have already made redeployment offers to several team members, and we are working to find other suitable roles where possible. These changes are unrelated to COVID-19.

“Given ongoing economic uncertainty, CUA has made the difficult decision to defer all remuneration reviews. This includes pausing pay increases for directors, executives and all staff from July to December 2020.”