News of the finance and information workers union
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March-April 2006
“Where we are in Australia, is staring down the precipice.”
You wouldn’t think Cath Noye was a battle-hardened Aussie union official. At least you wouldn’t if it weren’t for the sly twinkle in her eye and a belief that when she tells Australian banks ‘we can do this the easy away, or we can do it the hard way’ they know she isn’t bluffing.
Cath Noye is the National Assistant Secretary at the Australian Finance Sector Union (the FSU), a union comprising 65,000 Australians employed by many of the same banks and finance companies that also operate in New Zealand. She was in New Zealand last month for Finsec’s biennial conference to see how Finsec was approaching these same employers, and also to share a few stories about what is happening over in Australia at the moment.
The Prime Minister, John Howard, has recently gained control of both houses of the Australian parliament and is using this newfound power to introduce of some of the most draconian and anti-worker legislation in the OECD. Large Australian companies have lobbied for the new legislation, because they believe that it will break workers’ power and dramatically increase their profitability by allowing them to drive down their labour costs. Noye is primarily concerned about what this will mean for workers and their families;
“I cannot believe, with the stroke of a pen, the blood, sweat and tears of our union members’ history will be wiped away... all in the name of productivity and industry.”
Finsec has watched with concern for some time the intransigent attitude that banks can take to employment negotiations across the Tasman. Noye believes this would be a real problem if it started to happen here as well. “Negotiations can go for fourteen months. Some finance companies and banks just adopt this attitude”; Noye leans back, crosses her arms defensively and shakes her head. “Take it or leave it.”
“Let’s not forget this is the finance sector. There are some employers who don’t care how much they spend to get rid of the union, because they figure over a short period of time they’ll make that money back and more.”
But Noye also believes that Howard may have gone too far. His legislation has been resisted by huge marches and protests around Australia, and are bitterly resented by many working people, including those who previously were not union members.
“People started to realise that unions, far from being irrelevant, you can’t live without them. “Badges have been made in Australia saying ‘Unions are the new black’ – not that being union is a fashion statement!
Workers who will lose their right to personal grievances and long held working conditions, along with families that may find they have less to buy the groceries with at the end of the month, are now asking what they can do. For Noye the answer is an old one:
“The answer is organising, and activism and a lot more political activity to get rid of this government. Having that conversation with members: ‘Are you prepared to go the next step, and the next step... and the next step...’”
