The Finance Sector Union of Australia (FSU) is concerned that West Australian company RAC, which promotes itself as an organisation that serves the community, is instead turning its back on women by removing paid parental leave from the Agreement and dropping it into policy where it is open to change at the whim of the company.
FSU local executive secretary Di Marshall said an enterprise bargaining agreement which RAC has put to the vote of staff has removed paid parental leave; failed to include any paid domestic violence leave; and, failed to include additional superannuation payments to primary carers during periods of unpaid parental leave.
"While every other finance company is WA is lining up to improve working conditions to attract better staff, RAC Sales and Member Services is failing working women by removing their entitlement to paid parental leave and refusing to include paid domestic violence leave in their agreement," Ms Marshall said.
"It's absolutely outrageous that the largest WA based insurance company is removing entitlements for working women," she said.
"The women of WA deserve better. It's time to tell RAC that refusing to include paid domestic violence leave and paid parental leave in their enterprise agreement is un-Australian."
RAC Sales and Member Services is turning its back on women despite the fact that 56 per cent of its staff are women, with an even greater proportion among call centre and branch staff represented by the FSU.
Ms Marshall said the FSU had attempted to negotiate with a company that failed to understand what employers around Australia had accepted, that the world was changing and employers had a responsibility to support their staff with paid parental leave and domestic violence leave.
"As if RAC's attitude to women wasn't bad enough, this dinosaur of a company is offering its workers no across-the-board pay rise. That adds up to zero, not a brass razoo for workers who make a great contribution to their employer every day," she said.
"RAC has offered a pay rise based solely on performance and of course, the company will choose whether or not an employee's performance is good enough for a wage increase."
"That's grossly unfair, a kick in the teeth for staff and flies in the face of widespread concern in the community about flat wages growth and its impact on the Australian economy."
"RAC should wake up to itself and start treating its staff as if they were valued by the organisation."
Ms Marshall said the FSU had advised its members to reject RAC's misguided attempt to turn the company back in time with outdated conditions of employment that do not support women and by offering no guaranteed pay rises.
