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Bank workers' union Finsec is celebrating a "historic" settlement with Westpac, with a 5 per cent pay increase and a move away from a sales target-based pay system.
Westpac worker representative Maxine Mullen said it was the highest wage increase negotiated with a major bank in more than a decade.
Finsec campaigns director Andrew Campbell told NZPA the bank had agreed to introduce a new competency-based pay system.
"That's a significant step in terms of removing sales targets from the pay system and shifting the focus to skill and service delivery."
He said the need to meet targets in order to move up pay scales was one of the more "insidious" aspects of the industry.
Meanwhile, union members at ANZ National bank are set to take strike action on Friday over wages and the export of 238 jobs to India.
"There is a huge difference between the two banks in negotiations. Westpac has been prepared to listen to staff and customer concerns while ANZ National has not," Mr Campbell said.
ANZ National Bank spokeswoman Virginia Stacey-Clitherow last week told Fairfax Media the bank was the industry leader in terms of staff pay and conditions.
Mr Campbell said that may have been true two years ago, but the bank had since refused to offer competitive pay rises and was losing out to the competition.
- NZPA
