80% pay rise for bank boss

Business and government statements that workers should dampen down their expectations of a pay rise in the current economic environment ring even more hollow with the news that Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Ralph Norris has had an 80% increase to his pay package.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the A$7 million increase was driven by a A$4.5 million rise to his long-term performance rights, tied to the performance of the bank’s profits and share price.

Norris’s total remuneration package is now NZ $20 million – if Norris cashed up all his benefits it would total nearly $385,000 per week!

Outsourcing as a cure for aging

Ralph Norris, Chief Executive of Commonwealth Bank, which owns ASB, has told Australians that they can expect more bank outsourcing of jobs, not because banks are trying to cut costs of course, but because everyone is retiring, leaving not enough Aussies to fill the workforce. Speaking to the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Norris said it would be only a few years before the number of people retiring would surpass the number entering the Australian workforce. This would increasingly force companies to look overseas for workers.

(thanks to Tinker*Tailor for the photo)

CBA buys small Indonesian bank

Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which owns ASB, has just increased its presence in Asia, by buying 83% Indonesia’s PT Bank Arta Niaga Kencana for about AU$30 million.

CBA seems to have purchased this relatively small bank to strengthen its market position in Asia and to keep up with ANZ and National Australia Bank, both of whom have been buying stakes in Asian banks recently. Nearly all the major Australian banks that operate in New Zealand are now investing to grow their Asian business.

Arta Niaga Kencana operates 19 branches and achieved a profit before tax of 17.158 million rupiah (AU$2.4 million) in 2005.

(Thanks adlaw for the photo)

CBA begins to strip employment rights under new workplace law

It looks like the worst-case scenario to arise of Australia’s new employment laws is coming earlier for workers at the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, which owns ASB. CBA is offering the equivalent of individual employment agreements (called AWAs in Australia) that cut out conditions such as rostered days off, overtime pay, shift allowances, weekend and public holiday penalty rates and annual leave loading, as well as allowances for higher duties, relieving other staff, meals, and travel.

“It scraps relocation and removal expenses for staff made to transfer between branches and makes paid parental leave and redundancy pay discretionary,” reports the Sydney Morning Herald.

Under the new Australian employment workplace laws existing employees cannot be made to sign individual agreements, but applicants for jobs can. And, just like in New Zealand banks about 20% of CBA’s workforce changes each year. This will significantly weaken not only the rights of those who are moved onto individual agreements, but also those on the collective agreement as the number of people covered rapidly diminishes.

CBA will be the first Australian workplace to offer the individual agreements across the board. CBA’s Chief Executive is Ralph Norris, who had a reputation of working to limit union members and workers rights while in New Zealand.

Seven News reports ACTU Secretary, Greg Combet, saying that these individual agreements would “abolish all the award conditions that people have accumulated over the years“.

“It requires staff to work anywhere at any time the bank wishes, seven days a week,” Mr Combet said.

“It does represent, I think, the essence of what the federal government’s IR laws are all about.”

Meanwhile Australian Prime Minister defended CBA saying the indiviudal agreements would allow branches to open at weekends, which would be applauded by customers Australia-wide.

(thanks to thenoodleator for the photo)