Trade Union entry Australian Bank Officials Association (1938 - 1978)

Summary

Banking unions began emerging after the First World War, in 1918. E.C. Peverill from the National Bank of Australasia in Victoria was instrumental in establishing the Bank Officials' Association [BOA] in 1919. The union also covered Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. In Sydney the United Bank Officers' Association [UBOA] was formed in the same year. By 1921 the separate state unions known as the Bank Officials' Association of South Australia and the Bank Officials' Association of Western Australia had also been formed. In 1919 K.H. Laidlaw formed the United Bank Officers' Association of Queensland. While the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria was registered federally the other unions were registered in various state courts.

In 1921 the Bank Officials' Association in Victoria proposed an amalgamation of all banking unions, to be organised with a federal council and state branches. However, the UBOA of New South Wales and Queensland both rejected this proposal, partly due to Sydney Smith's (the UBOA of New South Wales Secretary) fears that amalgamation would mean the loss of state autonomy. Smith planned to register federally a union of bank officers from the fast growing Commonwealth Bank and to expedite this he formed the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA of NSW. This was registered in 1921 and the membership of the UBOA was significantly increased. In 1930 the Commonwealth Bank Branch of the UBOA became a separate association.

During the 1950s membership of the UBOA declined. By the mid-fifties it was the Bank Officials' Association (BOA) in Victoria, renamed the Australian Bank Officials' Association [ABOA]in 1938, which was making the major gains for bank employees. In 1954 the BOA proposed amalgamation at an interstate conference, and the UBOA again refused. The turning point came in 1958 when the NSW Industrial Court handed down a new award. Amalgamation talks began at an interstate conference in April 1960. In June 1963 Western Australia became a member followed shortly by South Australia. It was not until 1966 that the UBOA of New South Wales joined the Australian Bank Officials' Association as a Division to complete the amalgamation.

The 'equal pay for equal work' campaign began in earnest in 1966-1967. A Ladies Advisory Committee was established in 1959 to assist the ABOA Executive with matters relating to the employment and amenities of female bank officers. Women were first employed during WW1, but they were required to resign on marriage, were not allowed contact with the public, and were restricted from handling cash. After the war many were displaced by returned servicemen and for almost two decades the proportion of females remained at less than 10% of staff. Equal pay was finally achieved in 1975.

The ABOA changed its name to the Australian Bank Employees' Union in 1978. In July 1991 the Australian Bank Employees' Union [ABEU] amalgamated with the other major player in the banking and insurance industries, the Australian Insurance Employees' Union [AIEU] to create the Finance Sector Union of Australia [FSU]. Three smaller unions also amalgamated: the AMP Society Staff Association, Trustee Companies Officers' Association and Wool Brokers' Staff Association. In March 1994 the FSU was further strengthened with the amalgamation of the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association.

Related entries

Timeline

 1919 - 1938 Bank Officials Association
       1938 - 1978 Australian Bank Officials Association
             1978 - 1991 Australian Bank Employees Union
                   1991 - 1994 Finance Sector Union of Australia (i)
                         1994 - Finance Sector Union of Australia (ii)

Archival resources

Archives Office of Tasmania

• Australian Bank Officers Association, Tasmanian State Branch - General Records, 1936 - 1979, NS450; Archives Office of Tasmania. Details

JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia

• Australian Bank Employees Union, W.A. Division - Records, 1921-1989, 1921 - 1989, MN 946; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details
• Australian Bank Officials' Association, Bank of New South Wales Staff Council - Records, 1959-1972, 1959 - 1972, ACC 2976A; JS Battye Library of West Australian History, State Library of Western Australia. Details

The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program

• Australian Bank Officials Association - Records, 1907 - 1991, N112; Z508; N16 (pt); The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details
• Australian Bank Officials Association - Records, 1914 - 1985, A2; N16; M75; Z389; Z421; The Noel Butlin Archives Centre, ANU Archives Program. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

• Samuel Merrifield - Papers, ca. 1858-ca. 1977, c. 1858 - c. 1977, MS 13045; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

The University of Melbourne Archives

• Australian Bank Officials' Association - Records, 1908 - 1950, 1980.0073; The University of Melbourne Archives. Details

Published resources

Books

• Dufty, Norman F, Federation: Sweet and Sour: A History of the ABEU in Western Australia 1921-81, ABEU, Perth, 1987, 165 pp. Details
• White, Kate, An Open Account: 72 Years of Unionism in the State Bank of Victoria, Finance Sector Union, Melbourne, 1992, 250 pp. Details

Journal Articles

• Williams, Rees D., 'White collar unionism - The Bank Officers', Recorder, no. 94, 1978, pp. 5-10. Details

Online Resources

• 'Chart 12: Finance and Commerce', in Parties to the Award, 2002, http://www.atua.org.au/ptta/033.html. Details