“It’s time to start pushing membership and promoting ‘union’, because if we have more members we have stronger claims.”

Dan Crawford, Westpac Phone Assist

Finsec members at BNZ and Westpac have just completed two weeks of stopwork meetings where they debated their vision for upcoming employment negotiations.  An overwhelming theme to emerge from the meetings was that members wanted to be able to give good customer service, but felt they couldn’t because of the incessant demands of understaffing, sales targets and excessive workload.

At her stopwork meeting Gillian Davis, from Westpac’s North End Branch noted: “I’m actually working hours every week that I’m not paid for, not likely to be paid for, and not recognised for.  And I see that increasing, not decreasing”

Members noted that employment negotiations can often seem like horrid reruns of each other. Both sides, workers and employers, sit as encamped forces pushing into No Man’s Land to claim a few metres of muddy ground - only to lose it in later years.

BNZ and Westpac members want to move beyond this entrenched warfare.  They have outlined a vision of work in the finance sector that is good for banks and for bank workers.  Their campaign this year will be based on a vision of ‘decent work’.

Decent work is about the aspirations of working people.  It means having an opportunity to work productively for a fair income.  It is about being safe and secure in our workplaces.   Kerry Allanson from Westpac, Lambton Quay has a vision for these negotiations of teamwork rather than sales targets: “By making sales we are trying to make them money and not usually making money ourselves.  We’re supposed to be a team, but at the end of the day we are all competing against each other for sales.”

BNZ and Westpac members believe decent work means three things for the finance industry here in New Zealand:

1. Workers want to do meaningful, productive work that benefits their companies.  They want to work hard as a team while at work.  Work should have a purpose, it should allow workers to be creative and give their best.  Working hard but productively should not be stressful.

2. Workers should be paid a fair wage or salary that allows them to bring up a family and cover the costs of a happy and safe Kiwi lifestyle.  Everyone brings different talents to their workplaces, so pay systems should recognise that there are other talents that workers bring to their businesses than just meeting targets and selling products.  Companies that share their profits fairly with employees gain loyalty and commitment.

3. Workers contribute to their communities as well as to their company.  Successful workers balance work and other aspects of their lives to spend time with friends and families.  A balanced life means that jobs can be completed within allotted paid hours, overtime is claimed and paid, and businesses are fully staffed to cover all the work that needs to be done. 

Decent work benefits the finance industry because productive healthy workers work harder and more creatively for their companies.  Workers who have time to do their work and who enjoy their job speak positively and highly of their companies to their community.  This is the most effective and powerful form of advertising there is.  Well-paid workers in well-staffed companies become loyal spokespeople who remain with their companies.

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