Australia and New Zealand Bank (ANZ) is to shift more work overseas with the opening of a new back office processing centre in the Philippines that will employ 300 local staff.
The Finance Sector Union has attacked the move, which it says will result in the loss of 100 jobs from the bank's Australian and New Zealand operations.
ANZ is the most aggressive offshorer among major banks and finance companies in Australia, says the union, with 3500 jobs already relocated to the bank's Bangalore operation in India.
The union fears that the addition of Manila for processing operations reflects "an acceleration of a race to the bottom on labour costs".
FSU national secretary, Leon Carter is calling on the government to step in and protect Australian interests.
"Finance workers deserve a government prepared to put up some road blocks to stop banks like ANZ sending more and more jobs abroad," he says. "They need to show a commitment to better banking, and investment in Australian jobs and skills-so we can grow jobs here as well as abroad."
Recently, Labor and Liberal senators defeated a proposal from senator Nick Xenophon and supported by the Greens that would make off-shoring more difficult by requiring banks to obtain written approval before customers' personal data is sent abroad.