Friday, June 25, 2004
For immediate release
Westpac call centre staff gob-smacked at continued discrimination
Westpac continues to discriminate against its call centre workers by offering them worse conditions than staff elsewhere
in the bank, the bank workers’ union Finsec said today.
Earlier this week the workers rejected an offer to settle their collective employment agreement saying it did not go far
enough to address their concerns about work-life-balance and equity. The bank came back with no further offer today.
"Call centres are central to the bank’s operation and we are gob-smacked at Westpac’s failure to acknowledge this," said
Finsec organiser Karen Skinner.
"All staff are asking for is to be on a par with their colleagues in the branches. They feel that it is unfair to ask
them to work an extra half-hour a day for the same or worse pay and they need the security of fixed working hours.
"Westpac has ignored the voices of loyal staff who have raised these issues through their union for over eight months.
"Membership numbers are continuing to grow which indicates growing support for these issues. We also believe support for
these call centre workers is growing throughout the bank,” Ms Skinner concluded.
Ends