The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) is seeking financial penalties against the Australian Finance Sector Union (FSU) and is alleging that the union tried to coerce it into making an enterprise agreement. CBA strongly objects to a shareholder campaign that FSU ran last year.

The FSU was directed by members in July 2004 to undertake an industrial, public and shareholder campaign in support of claims around staffing, targets and pay.

The shareholder campaign involved FSU seeking shareholder support to place a resolution on the agenda of CBA’s Annual General Meeting. The resolution would amend the bank’s constitution to mandate an annual independent quality review of the impact of change programmes on staff and customers. 900 shareholders supported FSU’s request for a resolution and the resolution received 47 million votes in favour. The Australian Federal Court will hear this case on 25 and 26 July. FSU intends to defend all the charges.

FSU National Assistant Secretary, Sharron Caddie, describes the court case as an unprecedented attack on the rights of free speech of both employees and shareholders.

“In our view, the attack on the rights of employees to raise issues as shareholders and with non employee shareholders is designed to discourage union members from engaging in
broad-based campaigns.”

CBA, which owns ASB bank in New Zealand, is already known for its confrontational approach to employment relations. There is concern among union circles that CBA’s new Newly appointed CEO, Ralph Norris, formerly of ASB and Air New Zealand, is likely to entrench this combative approach to employment relations.

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