News

UNI Asia & Pacific joined the UNI Finance Better Banks Global Day of Action held on 18th February 2014 in New York. The global action was supported by finance industry trade union representatives from 15 countries across the regions.

Action was held to extend solidarity to the bank workers in USA to give them voice to organize in to trade unions. A comparative study reveals that bank employees in USA do not enjoy benefits available to their counterparts in rest of the world. Bank tellers who are hired to work as part time tellers are dependent on social assistance schemes as they do not have a decent job or regular income. Many of them do not get paid for public holidays. They neither have unions to fight for their rights nor to have a standard contract for employment.

Finance industry trade union leaders visited many multinational banks operating in Wall Street and interacted with the bank employees shared about the benefits they enjoy secured through collective bargaining agreements.

From Asia Banking industry trade union leaders from Malaysia, New Zealand and Philippines joined the action. Catherine Jikunan Vice President of UNI Apro Finance addressed the gathering extending solidarity from Asia with the Bank workers in USA.

Global Finance Workers, an Alliance between UNI Finance, Committee for Better Banks (CBB) and Communication Workers of America (CWA) is spear heading the campaign to unionize over 7 million bank workers in USA on the theme “Better Banks for People; People for Better Banks”  

Over ONE million supporters all over the globe extended their solidarity to the UNI Finance campaign and the global day of action through social media on 18th February 2014.