The 1980s and Beyond
The deregulation of the Australian finance sector during the 1980s resulted in a highly volatile, fluid industry in which the old certainties were cast aside and the impact of neo-liberal economic policies became more apparent. One of the most noticeable changes was the emergence of "all-finance", the notion that banking and insurance companies break out of their traditional spheres of activity, and, through mergers, takeovers, and strategic alliances, look instead to offer their clients a suite of banking, insurance, stockbroking, and financial services products. The rapidly changing face of banking and insurance required a coherent response that was not to be anchored in a specific industry, but which instead could cover the entire field of finance and finance-related services.
In response to the changing face and direction of the finance industry in Australia, and after much negotiation, the Finance Sector Union of Australia was founded in July 1991 when the ABEU and the AIEU voted to amalgamate and create a union based on the industry itself, as opposed to the increasingly convoluted divide between the trades of insurance and finance. It followed that four smaller unions became involved in this merger: the AMP Society Staff Association, Trustee Companies Officers' Association; the Wool Brokers' Staff Association; and the Reserve Bank Officers' Association. In March 1994, the FSU was further consolidated when the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Association joined the consolidated union, while continuing to retain some functions as a separate section within the union.
During this period, the FSU also responded to the changing workplace environment by launching successful campaigns for the introduction of paid maternity leave (followed by paid parental leave, exclusive of gender), job sharing, and the introduction of employer sponsored sick leave cover for retrenched employees who find employment again in the industry within 12 months of their termination from their previous employer. However, the consequences of rapid technological change, the mass restructuring of workplaces and consequent off shoring of jobs, and the implementation of sweeping changes to Australian industrial law by the Howard Liberal government, means that many serious challenges face the FSU into the immediate and ongoing future.
On 1 October 2006, the Commonwealth Bank Officers' Section (CBOS) formally amalgamated with the FSU and ceased to be a separate entity within the FSU.
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