Bank staff made a public call for Better Banks in the New Zealand Herald this week days before negotiations with ANZ National and Westpac begin. Close to 1500 staff from these banks have signed up to the Appeal for Justice which is also posted on www.finsec.org.nz

Westpac Union Council Chair Maxine Mullen says that the advertisement has sent a loud and clear message to the banks that staff want fair pay, better staffing and to fix targets. “We’re also sending a message to bank customers that their concerns are our concerns. Quality service and ethical banking goes hand in hand with addressing pay, targets and staffing.”

Maxine said that non-members could influence the outcome of the negotiations by joining our union before negotiations start. “The more members we have, the stronger our position at negotiations. Already hundreds of new members have joined Finsec. We are stronger together.”

This week Union Councillors and delegates visited sites affected by ANZ National’s proposed offshoring to Bangalore to survey staff about the impact of the move on them.

ANZ National Union Councillor Andy van der Heyden talked to Wellington staff and said that many staff were frustrated about the lack of information coming out of the bank. “There’s more news coming through the grapevine than coming from the bank,” he said. “People are sick and tired of “waiting and seeing.”

Andy said that the visits were very positive as they got members and non-members talking with each other about the different situations they find themselves in. “Members have been letting non-members know how being part of our union can help, and what support being in the union can give us.”

As of this Tuesday, New Zealand workers with caring responsibilities now have a right to request flexible working hours. Finsec was an active member of a Flexible Work Coalition, which lobbied for the legislative change and supported Green MP Sue Kedgley’s bill on the issue.

The Coalition held a celebration to mark the introduction of flexible working arrangements in Wellington on Tuesday, which was attended by a variety of unions and other groups.

A Finsec member is the first in the country to file a claim for flexible working arrangements under the new law, and this claim is currently under consideration.

The National Party’s intention to open up the Accident Compensation Corporation to competition with private insurance companies has come under fire this week from trade unions and other.

The New Zealand Council of Trade Unions called on National to come clean over whether they would privatize ACC altogether, after reports that Australian insurers were ready to profit in line with their private understanding that National would privatize.

CTU Vice-President Richard Wagstaff  said that the recent Pricewaterhouse Cooper report on ACC was clear, “The benefits of state only provision of accident compensation are significant both for workers and employers, but also non earners and sportspeople.” Finsec Campaigns Director Andrew Campbell said that privatisation and competition in accident insurance is a lose-lose scenario. “It carries increased costs for employers and poorer outcomes for workers. The only group that benefits are the private insurance companies.”

The issue of the unfair re-grading of Westpac Cards Call Centre staff is still being pursued by Finsec, after mediation failed to find a resolution to the issue. Finsec and Westpac have agreed to a high level meeting after CEA negotiations in a final attempt to resolve the issue. Gossip will keep you posted on developments.

Psychologists at the University of Sydney have found that Wednesdays, not Mondays are the most depressing day of the week.

While the study showed that on average, people’s moods are about the same on each day of the week, Wednesdays were the low point due to being furthest away from the weekend and bogged down with work.

Study participants sadly found weekends not as exciting as they’d anticipated, although moods were best on Friday and Saturday mornings and evenings.

Finsec members across ANZ National and Westpac are taking out an advertisement in the New Zealand Herald in the week prior to their negotiations to let the public know what needs to change in our banks. Members in both ANZ National and Westpac banks will be negotiating their collective agreements at the same time in the week starting July 7.

The newspaper advertisement will include the names of members who sign up to it – and more names will be published on the Finsec website. Members are encouraged to sign the advertisement before the publication deadline of 30 June.

Finsec President Kelvin Pycroft said that the appeal was an important part of the campaign and encouraged members to participate. “Our banks may not like this, but in order to win the decent pay increases we need, fairer targets and better staffing it is essential that we share our message with customers and the public. “

Finsec is calling upon all political parties to support proposed changes to the ACC scheme that would give cover to people who suffer mental trauma as a result of workplace accidents.

Finsec Campaign Director, Andrew Campbell told Newstalk ZB this week that we know of cases where “bank staff have been so mentally traumatised by armed hold ups that they have been simply unable to go back to work in the bank”.

“Workers who suffer workplace trauma currently don’t receive ACC assistance with counselling or any other forms of help that enable them to return to work. This needs to change,” said Campbell.

“Trauma is as debilitating as physical injury and should be treated the same. It is unfair that ACC doesn’t assist traumatised workers due to an artificial distinction between physical and mental harm.”

The proposed improvements to ACC are part of a Bill currently before Parliament that also includes improved accident compensation for workers in casual and seasonal employment.

A further day of bargaining with PSIS last week did not lead to any improvement to their offer of 4.5% or movements towards pay parity with bank workers despite strong advocacy from the PSIS bargaining team. Also, in a close vote, Finsec members narrowly voted against taking strike action.

Because PSIS have said it is a final offer and because members have said they do not wish to take strike action, a ratification vote will be put to Finsec members in PSIS. Delegate run ratification meetings will take place between 23 June and 4 July.

Finsec National Organiser Bella Pardoe said that although many members are unhappy with PSIS’s failure to move in negotiations, it is important to remember what has been achieved through collective activity. “4.5% is the highest pay offer in the industry so far this year, and we managed to resist PSIS attempts to introduce performance pay and limit pay increases to the rate of inflation,” she said.

“Pay parity with the banks is still our goal, and with the support of greater numbers of PSIS staff over time we can achieve this.”

The International Trade Union Confederation is running a major campaign against the treatment of young South East Asian women being used by beer companies to sell beer.  The campaign spotlights the shocking situation of these women who are being exploited and subjected to sexual assault and violence while working in restaurants and karaoke bars to promote well-known beer brands including Heineken, Carlsberg, San Miguel, Stella Artois, Becks, Bass, Anchor and Budweiser.

These “beer girls” are badly treated, poorly paid and have a high rate of HIV infection which is leading to thousands of early deaths among the women.

Unions, women’s rights and aid groups are asking all the major beer and spirit brands that use promotion women to end their exploitation, provide health education to prevent the transmission of HIV/AIDS and contribute to the cost of health care for workers who are HIV positive.

This campaign extends to New Zealand, with the Council of Trade Unions writing to beer companies about this issue. For more information from the Australian CTU about this campaign, click on the link below:

http://www.actu.asn.au/work_rights/news/1148623323_3424.html