News

UNI Europa’s Spanish affiliate, COMFIA-CCOO, demands the opening of negotiations in order to articulate the necessary restructuring during the next five years. The approved aid of 40 billion euros which comes as a relief for the ailing Spanish banking sector was accompanied by estimates from the European Commission that the concerned banks will have to reduce their balance sheets by 60%. The European Commission left it upon the Spanish authorities to define the detailed terms of how this adjustment will be made. Additionally, the European Commission requested the implementation of thousands of redundancies and the shutting down of around 50% of the nationalised banks’ branches.



COMFIA-CCOO considers that it is impossible to assess the impact of this restructuring in employment terms, without knowing exactly the specific plans of each entity. Nonetheless, the Commissioner's statements leave the door open for the parties to conduct negotiations and find formulas that will render the adjustments the least traumatic possible for the staff of the affected entities. The trade union reiterates that the validity and applicability of the collective agreements guarantee the working conditions of the workers for the time being. The biggest of the nationalised entities, Bankia, announced that it will lay off 6.000 staff and reduce its branch network by 39%. COMFIA-CCOO condemns all parties responsible for publicising fallacious estimates which aggravate the situation and fuel uncertainty over the future employment of the workers in the concerned entities. COMFIA-CCOO demands an adequate assessment of the losses that will be incurred by the retailer customers so that these losses impact in the least possible manner the saving fabric of the country.



UNI Europa fully supports its Spanish affiliates in their demands for negotiations and full involvement of trade unions in every step of the process. Information and consultation rights of workers must be respected and the social impact of restructuring must take priority in the considerations of the Spanish government and banks' managements alike.



See COMFIA-CCOO’s Press Release