‘Lied to their workers': CBA's ‘shameful act' while sacking staff
In an explosive statement, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) said the bank had been 'caught' hiring a litany of roles at the Indian subsidiary in Bangalore just weeks after CBA announced 304 redundancies on June 10.
The FSU said the roles being advertised by CBA India had the exact same job titles as those impacted by the redundancies.
Finance Sector Union National Secretary Julia Angrisano said the move was in breach of CBA's Enterprise Agreement and that the bank had 'essentially lied to their workers'.
'We do not believe that the redundancies outlined in these change processes are in fact genuine redundancies and that in doing so, CBA has breached the terms of the Agreement,' Ms Angrisano said, pointing out that genuine redundancies mean the role is no longer required.
'This is the very definition of bad faith.'
Ms Angrisano said CBA India's employee count had almost doubled in the last two years from 2854 to 5630.
'This is a shameful act from Australia's richest company,' Ms Angrisano said.
'All Australians are paying for the sham redundancy actions of the CBA. Not only are Australian workers being unfairly and reasonably sacked but this is being subsidised by all taxpayers.
'Bona fide redundancies are taxed concessionally in the hands of the workers. It is especially disgusting that the nation's richest company is also reducing the tax take as it makes the final payment to hundreds of Australians that we know are being sacked solely to have their work performed offshore.'
news.com.au has contacted CBA for comment.
In March, CBA announced it would be cutting 164 jobs from its technology division before announcing more redundancies from the customer service department in May.
Some of the job cuts hit staff at CBA-owned Bankwest, which is transitioning into a 'digital-only' bank.
The cuts came despite the bank announcing a six per cent rise in cash profits to $2.6 billion in the March quarter.
Commonwealth Bank boss Matt Comyn said in May the results reflected the bank's 'disciplined operational and strategic execution'.
'Our deliberate and long-term conservative approach to key balance sheet settings enables us to support our customers, the economy and our shareholders through a range of macroeconomic scenarios,' he said after the release of the March quarter results.
'We remain focused on supporting our customers, maintaining consistent and disciplined execution, investing in our franchise and generating sustainable returns for our shareholders.'
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