Workers at Westpac have won a reversal of the bank’s decision to off-shore 16 jobs to the Philippines.
The Finance Sector Union (FSU) called on the bank to reconsider after staff in the Personal Banking Service Centre were notified they would be losing their jobs.
FSU ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Assistant Secretary Nathan Rees said the bank’s decision to cancel the off-shoring plan was a win for common sense.
Mr Rees said Westpac was unable to legally account for foreign exchange transaction going into the Philippines which raised the question how the bank thought it could keep customers’ data secure by utilising a Manila call centre.
“If Westpac has learned anything from its current problems it is to realise the importance of getting its core business right, instead of continually seeking cost cuts,” Mr Rees said.
“It made no sense to push these loyal Westpac workers out the door and onto the unemployment queue.”
“Westpac has thousands staff who will continue to work together to maintain the bank’s operations and service delivery to customers while the upper echelon sorts out its problems and a new Chair and CEO are found.”
Mr Rees said the FSU had written to Westpac’s outgoing CEO Brian Hartzer about the offshoring plan late last week, and again to the Chair, Lindsay Maxsted on Tuesday.
“While we will continue to have concerns about Westpac’s management given what has been revealed by Austrac, at least the bank managed to get this decision right,” he said.
