Finance workers are demanding that banks being protected by the government's deposit guarantee scheme be stopped from sending jobs offshore.
The Finance Sector Union told a Senate inquiry hearing government assistance to banks should be conditional on jobs staying in Australia.
"If the Australian taxpayer is going to help Australian banks, one condition should be the immediate cessation of offshoring," the union's national secretary Leon Carter said.
The union's director of policy Rod Masson said bank staff were being directed not to tell consumers work was being done offshore.
Consumers were being let down as call centre staff were being moved abroad.
"The banks in this country spend an inordinate amount of time hiding who you are speaking to,'' he said.
"It's not being honest with consumers."
Labour force data released on Thursday showed the jobless rate in February soared to 5.2%, the highest in four years.
The finance union says Australian banks had slashed thousands of jobs in the past year, and sent more than 800 jobs offshore since October, despite their multi-million dollar profits.
In October, the federal government unveiled a guarantee program for deposits in Australian-owned banks, building societies and credit unions for the next three years.
The deposits scheme is worth up to $700 billion.
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