News

Bank workers and their unions from around the world are coming together to demand Spanish banking giant Santander respects its employees no matter where they work.

UNI Finance Global Union is leading an international trade union delegation to Boston today to support Santander workers in the United States who want union representation. There is currently no recognised union in the US that represents the workers at Santander-owned banking chain Sovereign.

Sovereign employees are fighting for their right for union representation but management has created a climate of fear to intimidate and discourage workers from joining a union.

UNI and the global trade union alliance at Santander are calling on Santander Chairman Emilio Botín to ensure management’s neutrality in the union organising drive at Sovereign.

“Workers at Sovereign want a union but their bosses are telling them they will lose their jobs if they try to organise,” said Oliver Roethig, head of UNI Finance. “Santander has thousands of unionised workers in many other countries around the world so we are dismayed by their anti-union attitude in the United States.”

Some workers who have supported the union have been unfairly fired and others have been told that the company is strongly opposed to any union for its employees.

The UNI delegation is calling on Santander to rehire its unfairly fired workers and stop interfering with workers’ rights to form a union. It will press Santander to sign a global agreement that protects and guarantees workers’ rights in the United States and around the world.

Find more information at: www.bankonrights.org

Contact UNI at: rachel.cohen@uniglobalunion.org or +41 79 888 0753

UNI Finance is the global trade union for the finance industry.