ChifleyFinancial Planning will lose four of its planners after they decided to leave the group, ending a dispute over pay and averting further action by the planners.
The move by the planners to leave is the final step in a series of actions which began when Chifley wrote to the planners stating it would change the system under which they receive commissions.
The planners, represented by the Finance Sector Union (FSU), responded by saying such changes breached the conditions under which they were hired.
The dispute escalated when the FSU took the matter to the NSW Labour Council, which is a one-third owner of Chifley, who threw its support behind the planners and opening the way for them to seek a hearing at the Industrial Relations Tribunal.
Chifley headed off the hearing when its chief executive Brett Westbrook offered to negotiate with the planners on the condition the hearing did not proceed. In exchange, Westbrook offered to remove the changed commission and pay structure.
However, once at the negotiating table, the planners moved to take redundancies rather than remain with the group under a new set of conditions. As part of the move out of the business, the planners received redundancy packages in the range of six to 12 months salary.
However, the departure of the planners has resulted in the Australian Workers Union in Newcastle, where one of the departing advisers was based, to sever its ties with Chifley and seek planning advice for local union members from another source.
AWU Newcastle branch secretary Kevin Maher says the branch made the decision to terminate its relationship with Chifley on the basis of the number of changes occurring within the group.
“Our support was based on the original organisation inside Chifley and we now find that we dislike the new structure and organisation of the group,” Maher says.
However, he says many of the AWU’s members have thrown their support behind the planner and indicated they would continue to maintain a relationship with him.
