News

Finance unions in Antigua are celebrating this week after winning a 4.5 per cent pay increase from Royal Bank of Canada.



RBC workers on the Caribbean island had taken a day's strike action after being offered a zero per cent increase following lengthy negotiations with the banking giant.



With two branches closed, local RBC officials promptly met with the Antigua and Barbuda Workers Union and negotiations were quickly settled after a new offer was accepted by the workers.



UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings said, “We are delighted to see these RBC workers receiving the pay increase they so richly deserve.



“I was in Antigua recently and listened to trade union leaders express their sheer frustration at the fact these workers were being ignored. UNI is proud to have supported our affiliates in breaking through and securing a deal."



The offer from RBC will seek to ease concerns over the business methods of Canadian banks operating in the Caribbean and their previous failures to negotiate fully with unions representing finance workers.



The move comes after UNI – the global union for the finance sector – held top-level talks with its affiliate trade unions in the Caribbean, during which Canadian banks were raised as one of the top concerns facing workers in the region.



“This is a first positive step by Royal Bank of Canada in the Caribbean," Jennings added. "We want to see them build on this progress by recognising the right of all workers to join a union and bargain for fairer working conditions and pay,”



Antiguan RBC workers and their union ABWU thanked UNI for its solidarity and support.