Bank staff push ethics

Industrial Action

The Age, October 29, 2007, In Brief

"Westpac staff want the right to refuse to push financial products such as insurance, credit cards and hefty personal loans on customers who cannot meet their repayments. The staff are demanding their new enterprise agreement severs the link between performance pay and the sale of loan and credit, especially given the record level of household debt in Australia.

But they are heading for a clash with Westpac, which, like all banks, increasingly requires staff to be more entrepreneurial. The employees are also up against industrial relations laws that prevent unions from negotiating "conscience clauses" or engaging in action that disrupts the right to run a business."

Your future is our future

(Westpac's latest slogan)

Westpac's latest advertising (propaganda) campaign shows a number of Australians from diverse backgrounds whom Westpac is declaring that the fate of their future is the fate of Westpac's future, and even includes images of penguins struggling on icebergs with upbeat and hip music.

Considering the disaster in America with sub-prime mortgage loans and the global impact during their demise, one would think that Australian financial institutions would be more realistic in their sales targets. Rather we see banks like Westpac push their employees for a 20% increase per annum in selling credit and loans in exchange for 5% salary bonuses.

Is it a case of those who can't teach, do; and those who wont do, advertise?

Flying Cattle Class and the Power of No

Animals are instinctual, and respond in kind, while a human has the ability to override instinct with awareness.

At least, i would like to think that humans have the ability to override instinct with awareness. In practice, I've noticed that most people are in fact, cattle. Too easily herded and too concerned about appearances. Have you ever been in a situation where you were sure you were short changed, but didn't say anything because you didn't want to make a scene? Well, thats flying cattle class, and you have allowed your instinct, that is, your desire to fit in and be considered a part of the crowd (herd), to override your awareness and stand up for yourself, your rights and your pride. You walk away feeling cheated, downtroden and deflated. Then the internal arguments start - "Why didn't i say anything?", "Oh, it was only a dollar. I didn't want people starring at me" and so on.

The cattle class phenomenon continues into organisational cliques, people all too consumed in their own lives and egos, completely self absorbed and contrite, all the while unwittingly contributing to the cattle class syndrome. While profesionally assertive, this particular species is so outrageously naive about their own self-importance to be aware that anything exists outside of their communist fiefdom. In fact, the only defence against such a creature is the power of refusal.

I've mentioned previously about these professional cliques who spend far too much of their personal hours engaging in social events together. Even after a polite refusal, this will only buy the victim a short amount of time before the onslaught of rhetoric post-event begins. What amazes me with these individuals is the NEED for acceptance, acknowledgement and most importantly validation. Considerable effort on their part is outlaid in attempts to manufacture your validation and subsequent justifaction for their petty excuse for life. The power of refusal is also the power of independence, the perception to others that your affections cannot be bought, manufactured or manipulated. You, unlike the cattle class have the courage of your convictions, with an authentic and genuine spirit. However, cognizant independence comes with a price tage, and the cultural (and individualist) culture of the organisation is a powerful beast, that must maintain and assert it's control. While flying cattle class will give you anonymity, protection and security from the masses, it is the power of No that is the true affirmation of life.

The Individual or Organisational Culture?

Free speech is a term all political activists endeavour

to own in the moral high ground stakes.

I've noticed how the White Nationalists, Supremacists, Nazi's and extreme Right use the sacred defence of "Freedom of Speech" to defend their views and ideology. They are not alone in their quest to push their own agenda through such a defence. The Pro-life and Christian activists also complain about their lack of ability to speak out about their views in such a polarised society, and the hard ugly truth is, whether you agree with them or not, they do have the right to an opinion, and the right to express that opinion. The question is, when and where do they have the right to express said opinions? Their homes? Workplaces? Public forums? or not at all? I came across an interesting example where un-popular politics meets the culture of the organisation.You may or may not recall a man named Andrew Fraser, who was a Professor of Law at Macquarie University in 2006. He was forced to retire after making comments about an ethnic hierarchy in Australia. While i do not condone what was said, what has primarily fascinated me about this case, were not comments themselves, but rather WHEN and WHERE they were said. Prof Fraser wrote an email to his local paper The Paramatta Sun. The email was sent from his professional account at the university with (I'm assuming) a university signature at the bottom, and was published with those details. Subsequently, after a long and arduous process, Prof Andrew Fraser was forced disgracefully into retirement, which superficially, may seem like a good thing.

However, fools rush in where angels fear to tread.

The truth of the matter I'm afraid, is that the disgraced Professor didn't hold the party line. He didn't put the organisational culture ahead of his personal beliefs. I know most of you reading this will be thinking - so? I agree with the university in this instance. Ultimately, what it boils down to, is what happens when the organisational culture doesn't agree with what you have to say, or what i have to say? What happens when we don't hold the party line? (Both within work hours and outside of work hours).

Generally, a bureaucracy is based on merit, but is commonly "corrupted" by other systems of power. The result is that most bureaucracies seethe with rumours, power plays, upheavals, takeovers and changing organisational structures. Bureaucratic elites like to collect information about workers, from personal details to comments on job performance. This information can be used to control the workers. On the other hand, information about the elites is not made available to workers. In other words, surveillance is natural to bureaucracies, and much of it is targeted at workers.

Bureaucratic elites have considerable power and, as usual, it tends to corrupt. When possible, elites give themselves high salaries, plush offices, grandiose titles and special privileges. They can exercise power by supporting workers who support them personally and by penalising those who criticise or just annoy them. They can foster fear by intimidating subordinates. They can create havoc through reprimands, demotions, dismissals, restructuring and a host of other mechanisms. Just about anyone who has worked in a bureaucracy has a good idea of the sort of problems that can arise.

A bureaucracy is not a free society. There are no elections for top offices. There is little free speech, and there is no free press for opponents of the current elites. Open opponents of the ruling group are likely to be harassed, demoted or dismissed. This is exactly what happened to Prof Andrew Fraser, and I too have suffered and continue to suffer discrimination in my workplace based on my anarchist ideas and agenda. I consider what happened to Prof Fraser akin to the frog in the boiling water syndrome, the slow boil akin to our slow erosion of freedom of expression. So again, i ask you when and where do ALL OF US have the right to express our opinions? Our homes? Our workplaces? Public forums or not at all?

References:
http://news.csu.edu.au/director/features/society.cfm http://www.culturejamforlife.com/free_speech/free_speech_pro_life.htm http://slackbastard.anarchobase.com/?p=375 http://www.abc.net.au/rn/talks/counterpoint/stories/s1424337.htm http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/pubs/98il/il05.html