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UNI Global Union and its affiliates from the Americas have signed an historic global agreement with the largest private bank in Brazil, Banco Itaú.  Banco Itaú is a powerhouse in the Brazilian and Americas financial market and employees over 80,000 staff. UNI now has 51 global framework agreements with multinationals and leading companies around the world.

UNI Global Union’s General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “This global agreement is a significant breakthrough for our work in the finance sector. We have worked hand in hand with our affiliates and can be proud of our efforts.

Jenning was in Brazil last week to sign the agreement with the company.

The largest operations of the bank are located in five countries in South America: Brazil , Argentina , Paraguay , Uruguay, and Chile where the company recently purchased assets of the bank CorbBanca which has a branch in Columbia. Banco Itaú is also present in the USA, Portugal, Japan and Austria.

The affiliated unions from the five key countries - AEBU ( Uruguay ) , Union of Employees of Itau ( Paraguay ) , La Bancaria ( Argentina ) , SNTBI and CSTEBA (Chile ) , Contraf - CUT ( Brazil ) , Contec ( Brazil) celebrated this event as an extended family together with the UNI delegation including Adriana Rosenzvaig (UNI Americas Regional Secretary), Marcio Monzane (Head of UNI Finance) and Marcio André Luís Rodrigues (Director of UNI Americas Finance).

It took UNI and its affiliates nearly two years of intense negotiation with the company to reach this agreement which will now secure the fundamental rights of the ILO Convention, including the freedom of association and the right to organize as unions to conduct collective bargaining.

The agreement also guarantees non-discrimination on the basis of gender or race, while creating positive incentives for hiring indigenous people and disabled people.

The recognition of social dialogue is at the cornerstone of the agreement and now we have to put that that agreement to work.

The UNI Americas Finance Union will meet in June in Lima, Peru to look at the next stage of our work to achieve agreements with Latin American banks.