'It's a matter of giving ASB staff a choice'
Monday, November 27, 2000
For immediate
release
'It's a matter of giving ASB staff a choice'
The
ASB bank and the TSB are alone amongst banks in failing to
offer their staff a collective contract. The ASB advises
its staff that the bank thrives because it doesn't have
one.
Finsec, the union for bank workers, believes there
is room for contestable advice to ASB staff and has set up a
website called www.asbbankunion.org.nz.
This has upset
the bank, which has accused Finsec of breaches of the
Copyright and the Fair Trading Acts.
However, ASB human
resources manager Barbara Chapman told the Sunday Star Times
yesterday that the bank would prefer staff to be on
individual contracts - because 'it's something that feels
right.'
She added 'We believe we offer state of the art
conditions. But it's up to staff. If they want to have a
collective contract, then it is up to them."
Gordon
Webley, project manager of Finsec's greenfields organising
team agrees.
"It's a matter of giving ASB staff a choice
for the first time in nine years," he said. "Our website
informs ASB staff about how their conditions compare with
those of other bank workers and gives them information about
how to contact the union."
Finsec has begun the process
of registering a new domain name for the
website.
Ends