The Finance Sector Union says workers’ rights are being abused by a broken system.

FSU chief Julia Angrisano spoke at the CFMEU’s National Day of Action to Stop the Attacks on Workers, raising key issues affecting bank workers today.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re a bank teller or a concreter, call centre worker or a form worker, a branch manager or a labourer, the laws are broken for all working people,” she said.

“When the CBA, Australia’s largest and most profitable bank, making almost $5 billion in half-year profits this year, can set up a business model geared to avoiding paying superannuation to low paid finance workers, mainly women — the system is broken.

“When a credit union seeks to terminate its EBA and tells its workers; ‘trust us you’ll be better off’, when in fact they stand to lose close to 20 conditions if the workers revert to the award — the system is broken.

“When a money exchange company, a company owned by a massive and highly profitable multinational, can seek to change the award that covers its workers so they are no longer covered by the industry award, which pays penalty rates for working weekends, and have now offered new employment contracts that refer to the retailers award so it can undercut pay and conditions — the system is broken.

“UAE Exchange is leading the race to the bottom.

“This company is seeking to cover its workers by the same award that was subject to the Fair Work Commission (FWC) decision to cut penalty rates. This award coverage issue has the potential for being the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as other bosses will look to follow.

“How do they get away with it? It’s because the system is broken.

“In each of these cases, we have very rich and powerful bosses who are re-writing the rules.

“This bank can afford to pay superannuation, this credit union can afford to pay allowances, this multinational can afford to pay penalty rates.

“But they have re-written the rules and exploited and abused the system,” she said.