Following the release of official media statements indicating that Non-Disclosure Agreements will not be relied on to silence bank employees from communicating with the Royal Commission, the Finance Sector Union (FSU) of Australia says banks need to communicate clearly to their workers what this means for them.
FSU National Secretary, Julia Angrisano, said bank workers needed written assurances from their employees that permitted them to communicate with the Royal Commission without jeopardising their employment.
“Under normal circumstances, it is impossible for current bank staff to speak to anyone about their employer because of stringent codes of conduct which the banks all routinely use to silence workers,” she said.
“If the banks and the community are to benefit from the change this Royal Commission could bring to banking, then ‘whistle-blowers’ inside the system must be encouraged to come forward.”
Ms Angrisano said the Royal Commission required full disclosure in order to reveal the truth surrounding banking scandals and to see the return of customer-focused service rather than the relentless pursuit of sales targets.
“We need this Royal Commission to get the full and complete picture about the culture and excesses in banking,” she said.
“It is essential that the banks’ ‘dirty laundry’ is properly aired and that the Royal Commission is able to reveal the full facts about banking scandals, the ones we know about and the others that the inquiry will unearth, which have dragged down the reputation of our banks.”
