Bank union’s offer rejected

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 3

Bank union’s offer rejected

An offer by the Bank Officers’ Union to amalgamate with the Insurance Workers’ Union has been rejected.

The bank union said that amalgamation would bring substantial cost savings, however the insurance union disagreed. The bank officers calculated that the savings would mean that their union subscriptions could be frozen for one year, and insurance union fees for two or even three. “Net savings would be at least $25,000 a year at first and could well climb to $40,000 or more after two or three years,” said the Bank Officers’ Union in an article in its latest newsletter, “Chequemate.” It said that the main immediate savings would come from bringing the two head offices together under one roof — that of the bigger Bank Officers’ Union, which would produce savings in rent, power, telephone bills, and cleaning costs. The Bank Officers’ Union said that a more efficient service would arise from the merger. Union staff would be able to visit insurance workers in the afternoons when bank staff were often too busy to be seen by union representatives.

The unions already share facilities in their Christchurch branches. Each organisation would retain its autonomy, with perhaps an insurance division and a banking division of the union proposed the Bank Officers’ Union. The secretary of the Insurance Workers’ Union, Mr G. J. Ogilvie, said from Wellington yesterday that the proposal, had been fully considered but the union saw no advantages in amalgamation. The proposal was rejected by the annual conference on the recommendation of the union’s management committee. Mr Ogilvie said that while economies of scale might lead to some advantages, the reverse could also apply, in a way similar to the law of diminishing returns. The Bank Officers’ Union has about 15,000 members and the Insurance Workers’ about 6000.