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Published in Portuguese and in English, it highlights the first meeting with Banco do Brasil in the U.S.

The Communication Workers Union of America ( CWA ) , which represents over 700,000 workers in various service sectors in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico, is distributing a new bilingual English edition of the magazine “O Espelho / The Mirror”  for Banco do Brazil employees in the United States.

The Portuguese edition is already available for  Brazilian bank workers’ unions to be delivered to employees of BB in Brazil .

 Click on the links to read the bilingual publication in English and Portuguese.

The bilingual publication is part of an international campaign, which aims to start a process of unionization of American bank workers, a sector that does not have unions in that country.

The four-page magazine, like the first publications released in February and September 2013, was edited by Contraf-CUT in partnership with UNI Global Union, CWA and Bank Workers Union of São Paulo.

First meeting with BB in the U.S.

The main focus of the publication is the first meeting between Banco do Brasil and the international trade union movement, which took part in New York on December 5. The meeting was requested by UNI Americas and its affiliated unions organizations, including Contraf- CUT and Bank Workers Union of São Paulo, to strengthen the Global Framework Agreement renewed with BB in 2013. CWA representatives also attended the meeting.

“This meeting is a historic milestone because it is the first time we meet with the bank's management in the United States, as a result of the Global Framework Agreement. We are supporting American workers’ union organization so that we they create unions in the US banking sector because this is the best way to improve their collective and social rights, “stated Carlos Cordeiro, president of Contraf-CUT and of UNI Americas Finance.

For the secretary of union education of Contraf-CUT and coordinator of the National Committee of BB Workers in Brazil “the best way to solve conflicts inherent to capital-labor relation is through collective bargaining with labor unions. It is the modern way of defining labor and social rights. Companies that claim to have social responsibility must respect both national labor principles and rights and international conventions".

The president of Bank Workers Union of São Paulo, Juvandia Moreira, highlighted the process of collective bargaining in Brazil with the federation of banks, the employers’ organization, and the gains achieved through struggles and strikes of Brazilian bank workers in the last decades. The CWA Representatives explained how union organization takes place in the US and talked about the difficulties they are facing to have access to BB workplaces in the country.

Mobilization and achievements in Brazil

The magazine also points out that , thanks to the courage of the banking sector working class, to strong mobilization and national unity, Brazilian bank workers held in 2013 the largest strike in more than 20 years, gaining real wage increase for the tenth year in a row (salary increase over the annual inflation rate), higher increase in the sector wage floors, improvement in the profit share (PLR) schemes and important economic and social gains.

Besides the National Collective Bargaining Agreement, which covers all Brazilian bank workers, Banco do Brasil employees’ participation in the campaign was a remarkable one. They got extra achievements in their additional agreement on specific issues in the bank, mainly in relation to career progress, social rights and protection from bullying. And the bank will hire over three thousand employees until August 2014, as well as it will promote hundreds as bank tellers (those holding temporarily the position). Just to mention some of the agreement clauses.

The right to organize in the US

Another important issue in the magazine is the union organization of American bank workers. The Committee for Better Banks released a report in December exposing the low wages and difficult working conditions of front-line bank workers.

The report found that 39 percent of bank tellers were paid so little, they had to seek public assistance. The report garnered widespread national press coverage.  

CWA has been working in alliance with the Brazilian unions to help U.S. based workers build their own organization.The union is the most important tool that workers have to defend their rights.

Source: Contraf-CUT