Westpac is one of the largest banks in New Zealand. While most branches stayed open with nonunion and management labor, the company was forced to close up to 30 outlets.

Sixty workers picketed the main branch in Christchurch. Workers said they rejected a company offer of a 5.2 percent wage raise over 18 months. Finsec members said they hate the way Westpac pressures them to foist new debt onto customers. In a typical case, customer service workers—who have a sales target of 8,575 points a year—gain 10 points for opening a new account but more than double that for persuading a customer to take up a new credit card. “The sales targets are not reachable,” Finsec president Sue Boraston told the Christchurch pickets. “The targets get higher every year and if you don’t make these targets you lose your job—and people do lose their jobs.”

“They keep on stretching the targets—we don’t have any control over them,” Pushpa Iyer told the Militant at the Auckland march and rally of 200 workers. Ryan Stanley, another Finsec member, added, “To get to the top grade you have to be Superman.”

Making their way through Auckland’s busy city center and stopping outside each Westpac branch, workers chanted, “Service, not targets!” They carried placards reading, “Overworked, underpaid,” and “Would you like fries with that?”—a reference to the constant pressure to push new debt onto customers.

To conclude the protest, union members spread out across the street opposite the bank’s head office and sang a union version of the traditional song, “Twelve Days of Christmas,” while Finsec representatives delivered a Christmas parcel of rolled-up placards to the office.

Callum Williamson is a member of Finsec and works at Westpac. Patrick Brown contributed to this article from Auckland.  
 
 
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