CBA workers national day of action

Commonwealth Bank employees participated in a national day of 
industrial action on Friday, July 2. Staff were forced to take 
this action following the bank's rejection of their claim for 
improved workplace conditions. The implementation of the workers' 
demands would help increase both staff and customer 
satisfaction.

"This action is about getting the Bank to listen to its staff — 
which it keeps saying it wants to do, but then totally ignores 
them", said Sharron Caddie, National Assistant Secretary, Finance 
Sector Union (FSU).

"Staff have used negotiations for a new Enterprise Bargaining 
Agreement (EBA) to identify workplaces issues, and propose 
solutions to fix them."

Despite saying it wants a "fair and quick outcome" to 
negotiations, CBA has failed to demonstrate a genuine commitment 
to addressing the key issues of:

* chronic understaffing throughout workplaces

* consultation with staff about establishing the individual sales 
targets, which are now a prerequisite of the Bank's "performance 
culture"

* a pay offer which brings CBA staff into line with industry 
colleagues.

The employees' EBA claim was based on evidence from workplaces 
that one in three are understaffed and qualified relief is not 
being provided to cover absences. This is resulting in reduced 
access to training, lack of access to entitlements, hours of 
unpaid overtime and an increase in the time customers are waiting 
for service.