BankWest has been accused of short-changing its workers in EBA negotiations. 

The Finance Sector Union (FSU) says BankWest is offering a pay increase less than that being paid to workers at CBA.

FSU local executive secretary Dianne Marshall says BankWest is a wholly -owned subsidiary of the Commonwealth Bank, so its staff should receive the same pay increases as their counterparts in the Eastern States.

“This is an insidious form of wage discrimination, docking the pay of bank workers in the BankWest subsidiary while the rest of the CBA group enjoys higher wages,” Ms Marshall said.

“What’s worse is the CBA has just announced a $4.74 billion dollar profit which has been produced in part by the BankWest subsidiary and yet they can’t make a pay offer to staff which is on par with that awarded to their counterparts across Australia.”

The union says BankWest employees are being offered a three per cent increase every year for three years, while the CBA paid its staff 3.25 per cent in the first year, and three per cent after that.

“We know that as a wholly-owned subsidiary, BankWest does not act independently and takes its orders from CBA headquarters in Sydney,” Ms Marshall said.

“In what parallel universe does BankWest boss Jason Chan live if he thinks it is acceptable to pay BankWest staff less than CBA staff?

“BankWest staff have worked just as hard as CBA staff to meet the needs of customers during the pandemic and they deserve to be properly compensated.

“The CBA has set the benchmark with its EBA pay scales and BankWest staff expect to be paid at the same rate.”