BNZ members stand up to bank – and keep their current hours

Finsec members in BNZ Lending in Wellington have kept their current working hours by joining together and telling the BNZ their plan to extend working hours couldn’t be pushed through due the rights we have in our collective agreement.

Our BNZ collective agreement says staff don’t have to change their hours of work if they don’t want to and that the bank has to take into consideration a staff members personal circumstances.

Finsec members joined together and told the bank on mass all the reasons they couldn’t change their hours. These included things such as childcare, looking after sick parents and partners, study commitments, care of children with disabilities, PTA commitments and volunteering in the community.

Nearly all Finsec members have kept their current hours of work. Those who have changed their hours have done so either by request or have been ok with the proposal to change their hours.

Well done BNZ lending staff!

BNZ told – don’t offshore jobs

BNZ Union Councillors met with the bank this week and delivered a strong message on behalf of union members – that the BNZ should not offshore New Zealand jobs.

The meeting was one of the quarterly opportunities Finsec representatives have to present issues to the bank on behalf of BNZ union members.

Finsec representatives put forward a number of recommendations to the bank including asking the BNZ to pledge not to offshore jobs, to maintain current staffing levels and guarantee any restructured staff an alternative role within the bank.

Senior management present at the meeting agreed to take members recommendations to the CEO and report his response back to us.

ANZ and BNZ profits show they can afford fair pay increase and keep staff in jobs

Finsec members’ goals to protect jobs and achieve fair pay increases got a boost this week with both the BNZ and ANZ National announcing profits.

Both banks announced half year profits in excess of $400 million. These results can be considered somewhat remarkable given the current economic crisis. The profit announcements are more evidence that there is no reason for either bank to cut any more jobs or freeze pay.

The banks are also drawing criticism for failing to pass on reductions to the OCR to customers. Only Westpac has dropped their rate so far.

BNZ staff are people too!

BNZ Lending staff in Wellington are making themselves heard as the bank moves to change their hours. Finsec, members are emailing the bank with details about their lives and personal commitments and responsibilities that need to be considered.
Two thirds of staff are saying that the proposed change of hours will not work for them.
The personal stories of these staff shows why employers need to think of their staff as people with full and busy lives. Many have caring responsibilities for sick family members, or community activities to consider.
Staff are also concerned about the irregularity of transport outside of normal hours, and have childcare arrangements for young children and even babies.
Finsec is now awaiting the bank’s response to staff feedback.

BNZ confirms 30 jobs cut

A final decision on the thirty jobs under threat at BNZ in Business Technology Services has now been made, with thirty positions cut.

The latest redundancies are further evidence that some banks are determined to push ahead with cutting staff numbers, despite healthy and even growing profits. Job security continues to be Finsec’s number one Better Banks issue this year.

BNZ proposing to cut 30 jobs

The BNZ is proposing to cut 30 IT jobs in Business Technology Services, and will make a final decision on the proposal at the beginning of April. The positions are based in Auckland and Wellington.

The BNZ announced a $260 million profit for the last quarter – 53% up on the same period the previous year, and recently participated in the Jobs Summit to protect New Zealand employment.

Job cuts at BNZ still on the cards

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Despite significant media speculation that job losses would be announced in the BNZ this week, its parent company NAB’s “strategic blueprint” announcement on Thursday averted anyone loosing their job.

In discussions with BNZ senior management yesterday Finsec asked for and was given a blanket assurance that no jobs in New Zealand would be lost as a result of this particular announcement.

However in today’s New Zealand Herald BNZ spokesperson Diane Maxwell confirmed that future job losses are on the cards. “We will be looking at job losses but they are not related to today,” she said.

Yesterday’s announcement covered plans to:
•    Focus on NAB retail in Australia
•    Cut dividends by 25% this half year
•    Continue to focus on cost control
•    Establish a Service Company department to look at synergies across the group
•    Introduce a new GM structure in Australia

Finsec has welcomed the announcement of the dividend cut as an alternative to cutting jobs and a more socially responsible response to the recession.

BNZ’s massive profit can provide a stimulus to NZ economy

The BNZ recently announced a $260 million profit for the three months to December 31, an $89 million (53%) increase on the same period last year.
“The BNZ’s profit for the first three months of their financial year shows they are in a strong position to play an active role in stimulating the economy and supporting an economic recovery in New Zealand,” said Finsec Campaigns Director Andrew Campbell.
The BNZ has also announced some reorganisation of work in its back office. While at this stage this is mainly around reporting lines, the bank’s presentations to staff say it wants to do more to manage its costs.
“We are calling on the bank to maintain current staffing levels and keep people in work rather than adding to the current economic problems,” said Campbell. “BNZ can use this profit to keep all its staff in work and provide a financial stimulus to its thousands of workers through a reasonable wage increase this year.”

Breaking news on break fees

The Sunday Star-Times this week reported on a customer complaint against the BNZ for the amount of the fee for breaking his fixed-term mortgage. Andy Miller from Cambridge has made a formal complaint after being charged nearly $10,000 when his own calculations using the bank’s formulas resulted in a few of only $2331. Miller plans to fight the bank, possibly at the Disputes Tribunal.

Meanwhile, politicians are also weighing on the issue of break fees. Labour leader Phil Goff called on the Government to clamp down on banks charging exorbitant fees, especially in the case of hardship. Goff gives the example of a redundancy when the worker is locked in a three year mortgage term on a high rate, and says the banks should show some humanity.

Finance Minister Bill English says the pressure should come from the market, but is going to talk to Kiwibank about their high break fees. BNZ, ASB and National base their fees on customer rates while Westpac, ANZ and Kiwibank use wholesale rates, which makes the fees higher.

BNZ closing Invercargill branch – locals fight back

The BNZ confirmed this week that it will close its Dee St branch in Invercargill at the end of this week in a move that Finsec says highlights the bank’s prioritisation of profits over service to local communities.

Finsec Campaigns Director Andrew Campbell said that customer service in Invercargill will be negatively affected. “There will be less BNZ staff in Invercargill as it looks like vacancies in the main branch will be in-filled by the Dee St staff moving there. That means one less branch and less staff in total.”

In response to the BNZ’s decision, local BNZ customers Daphne and Stan Mawhinney collected hundreds of signatures on a petition opposing the closure. Daphne and Stan told the Southland Times they felt the move would disadvantage older customers because they would have to travel further to do their banking.

See more about their campaign in the local media:
http://www.stuff.co.nz/stuff/southlandtimes/4796315a6568.html