Westpac net profit up 22%, bank currently negotiating with staff

Westpac’s announcement today of a 22% increase in net profit for the last financial year shows that the bank is more than able to offer a good deal to their staff in current collective agreement negotiations, says the union representing bank workers.

FIRST Union and Westpac were in bargaining last week which adjourned without agreement.
FIRST Union Finance Sector Andrew Casidy said the union bargaining team were underwhelmed with progress in bargaining, and today’s profit announcement showed that union members’ claims were reasonable and that a good pay rise was justified in light of this significant profit increase.

“Westpac staff know that they have a real value to the bank and their customers and that they’re worth more. They also know that the bank can afford to pay more,” said Andrew Casidy.

“Staff are determined to resist Westpac’s claim that would see pay progression linked to individual targets and performance appraisals rather than competency assessments, particularly when Westpac already runs systems to reward good performance through bonus payments.

“It’s not like our members earn hundreds of thousand of dollars (or even millions) per year and can afford to have some of their pay progression at risk like their senior managers can,” Casidy said. “With a 22% profit increase, this looks to us like a move aimed at limiting costs at the expense of those who in the bank who can least afford it, non-managerial staff.”

Union members are planning stop work meetings across the bank for the second half of November to consider next steps and any update from the bargaining which reconvenes next week.