This recent News.com article reported on Wesptac staff being made redundant and being made to train Indian workers, who are in Australia on temporary visas.
One Westpac worker was quoted: "Basically sitting next to me like a sponge, sucking in as much information as possible. It's devastating. I feel insulted and very low."
Again, another said: "It is extremely demoralising to train people who are highly incompetent to take your own role. We get constant stupid questions every single day. Basic tasks that we are expected to perform they can't perform."
The article quoted FSU NSW acting secretary Veronica Black who attacked Westpac, which made a $6.9 billion profit last year, for asking staff to "effectively facilitate the destruction of their own jobs". Moreover the government has warned that the companies could be breaching immigration rules by bringing in foreign staff to replace Australian employees. (www.news.com.au)
Then comes this remarkable comment by a Westpac spokesperson - "This is not about cost. It's about improving our skill capability by leveraging global scale of sourcing providers,"
Well-Being Australia chairman Mark Tronson asks the 64,000 dollar question: "What does this actually mean?"
Why is it that such situations as this have companies stretching their long arms into the bag of gobbledygook comments that show how really pathetic they are and simply cannot tell it like it is, leaving egg on their face and without a semblance of integrity.
How about this Mark Tronson suggests: "Australia has largely priced labour out of the global market place. Westpac functions across the world and we're obligated to our share holders to secure these essential tasks as inexpensively as possible, yet maintaining our unquestioned quality of service. In this case, we're going to India."
Three outcomes
There would be three outcomes to such an honest and upfront statement.
Local Federal politicians would be pressuring the Government to find a way forward to keep Australian jobs in the financial sector, perhaps similarly as the Government has done for the motor vehicle industry.
Secondly, Australians would at least know upfront-and-centre the real issue behind such banking decisions. Multi-national banks clearly have no great interest in increasing Australian jobs and the welfare of additional Australians and thereby the nation. This brings into focus other financial options such as regional banks and building societies.
Perhaps the most critical of such a 'plain speak' statement, would be money walking out the Wespac door with millions of customers. Nothing speaks louder to a multi-national than bad publicity and money walking out their door 'wholas-bolus'.
Bad publicity and money-walking-out-the-door has a very salutatory effect at Board level and instead of saving a few dollars by such global decisions, it might bring near collapse upon an institution. It seems that Westpac has responded to such poor publicity and their staff that are being retrenched are not required to retrain the offshore staff – see article
There are examples in reverse
Mark Tronson says that similar situations in reverse have occurred where mortgage householders have got together and pooled debt to reduce their interest rate and now similar ideas are unfolding with electricity bills. People power remains alive and well in Australia.
The same principle applies, but in an opposite numerical format within Christian thought. Jesus said that where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them (Matthew 18 verse 20). There are innumerable Scriptures that speak that when the Lord is with you, nothing can stand against such authority.
In other words there is a great crowd of unseen witnesses when we call upon the name of the Lord in whatever situation befalls us, and this is beyond comforting, as has been experienced through the centuries.
Dr Mark Tronson is a Baptist minister (retired) who served as the Australian cricket team chaplain for 17 years (2000 ret) and established Life After Cricket in 2001. He was recognised by the Olympic Ministry Medal in 2009 presented by Carl Lewis Olympian of the Century. He has written 24 books, and enjoys writing. He is married to Delma, with four adult children and grand-children.
Mark Tronson's archive of articles can be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/mark-tronson.html
