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ANZ is one of the largest banks in the Asia and Pacific Regions. UNI Finance and its affiliates are struggling with the bank to ensure that workers are being respected in all the countries where the company operates, including in Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Fiji and the Philippines. In Australia, the ANZ workers have made a courageous step up to defend their rights.

ANZ employees have resoundingly rejected an enterprise agreement proposal that would have clawed back significant working conditions and eroded job security, said the Finance Sector Union (FSU), the UNI Finance affiliate in Australia.

“The employee ballot concluded at midnight on Sunday and I am very pleased to confirm that thousands of staff have said NO to losing conditions, clawbacks on job security, hours of work and penalty rates, and a broken pay model,” said FSU National Secretary Fiona Jordan.

“The overwhelming message to ANZ Bank and all other finance sector employers is that workers value their conditions in the workplace and demand to be treated with respect and dignity,”

Elections Australia has confirmed that the enterprise agreement proposal attracted 5028 ‘Yes’ votes and 9127 ‘No’ votes, meaning 64.48% of voters rejected the proposal.

As a result of the ballot the current agreement will remain in force and eligible Groups 5 & 6 staff will receive backdated pay increases or one off payments of between 1.25% and 4.5%.

“As staff have clearly rejected the bank’s proposal, the FSU will now invite ANZ Bank to come back to the bargaining table to negotiate a new Enterprise Agreement in terms that can be recommended to staff in a new ballot.”

“In conversations between thousands of ANZ staff in recent weeks it has been made abundantly clear that they do want a new agreement but that EBA can’t be based on clawbacks and inequity,” said Fiona Jordan.

“A new agreement needs to be based on sharing the success of ANZ through improving conditions, protecting redundancy provisions and protecting penalty rates. A new agreement must include a new pay system that removes the artificial caps on salaries, provides transparency and fairness to market rated staff and has minimum rates that are comparable to those in other banks,”

“The new EBA should also protect jobs not threaten them and should provide for the Fair Work Commission to settle workplace disputes and problems,” said Fiona Jordan.

UNI Finance would like to congratulate Fiona Jordan for her courageous fight and extend its solidarity to all FSU members and ANZ workers in this difficult struggle.

For more information contact Lito Vilisoni  (lito.vilisoni@fsunion.org.au).