Issue # 1409      6 May 2009

ANZ Bank protests

In response to the ANZ banks decision to slash 600 jobs, the Sydney District Committee of the CPA has launched a campaign that targets the ANZ Bank, highlighting the causes of the global economic crisis and raising the demand to nationalise the big four banks and establish a Peoples Bank.

In a protest organised outside the ANZ Bank headquarters in Martin Place, Sydney, the CPA called on the bank’s customers to put pressure on ANZ to maintain the 600 jobs, pointing out that ANZ had made a profit of $3.3 billion in the last financial year and that they had just announced $940 million profit for the last six months.

The ANZ bank like the other three big banks were using the crisis as a cover to extract more profit.

The protest coincided with the Reserve Banks decision to cut the official interest rate by 0.25%. Not surprisingly the ANZ only passed on 0.10%, pocketing more than half the interest rate cut, to add to their profit margin.

The protest got widespread coverage on the evening news and updates, and met with a good response from the passing crowd and customers. A further two protests have been organised since, with the Cypriot Branch holding a protest at Marrickville and Auburn Branch campaigning outside the ANZ in Auburn.

The District Committee is calling on all branches to take up the campaign as an affective way to communicate our policies on the capitalist crisis in our local communities.

Next article — Migrants and refugees first workers to be sacked in a recession

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