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Window of union opportunity in financial crisis
Published: 7 November 2008
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Talking about casino capitalism is belittling what is happening. It is totally unfair to our colleagues from the gambling sector. If you go to a casino you have a fair chance and you can calculate your risk, said UNI’s Oliver Röthig at the opening session of UNI-Europe Finance’s conference in Vienna. The financial crisis is a gigantic pyramid scheme: the organisers win and everybody else loses. In most countries, people behind such a scheme go to jail and do not get golden parachutes, But Oliver and several other speakers also spoke about a window of opportunity that has opened in the middle of the financial crisis since governments and EU institutions now seem ready to listen to trade unions. We warned the European legislator over a year ago, now we must show that there is a way out, said UNI Finance’s president Allan Bang in his opening speech. We must fight for a socially and ethically responsible finance industry, with good employment conditions and where employees are not forced to sell bad products but instead giving advice to clients. He pointed out that the employees are the first to notice when something goes wrong. Also, UNI’s members are the key to restoring the confidence which is necessary for the functioning of the sector. Many speakers underlined that the solutions must be global as the economy is global. There is a need for transnational regulation and a global supervisory system. In relation to the employers, UNI will work for establishing a framework for transnational industrial relations, through global framework agreements in multinational companies. Global framework agreements where companies undertake to respect core labour standards in all their businesses are more topical than ever. The first ever European global agreement in the finance sector was concluded between UNI Finance and the Danish Danske Bank in September and has just been signed, and was handed over by Allan Bang to UNI’s Secretary General Philip Jennings. In the week to come, a delegation from UNI is to present UNI’s proposals to the meeting of the G20 countries in Washington. At the same time they hope to be able to establish a link to the coming US president Barack Obama or his vice president Joe Biden. Because the presidential election too has opened up new opportunities, Oliver Röthig said. Obama’s victory is a victory for all of us, said UNI General Secretary Philip Jennings. Obama is in favour of legislation restoring workers’ freedom to form tunions and to bargain. And our colleagues in the US need unions. Many of them who work in banks earn less than if they had worked in unionised supermarkets. We are exploring with our US unions how we can organise finance workers. We cannot waste this opportunity, said Philip. A single union alone can handle the crisis. That’s why UNI global union has built an organisation in Europe and world wide. And now there is a new leader of the world’s most powerful economy. We have to seize this moment. We demand a seat at the table. If we don’t we will lose this opportunity. |
