Solidarity statement of UNI Europa Finance to its Greek affiliates
In Greece, as the dead-end austerity policies continue, economy falls deeper in recession and society falls in poverty and suffering. Trade unions are struggling hard to protect collective agreements through social dialogue.
The new legislation, recently voted by the Parliament, gives priority and encourages agreements at company level or individual job contracts, which will adversely affect wages & salaries, benefits and employee rights.
The participants of the meeting, after listening to the interventions of the Greek colleagues, are declaring:
Their full support to OTOE, in its effort to renew its collective agreement.
During the next period, in middle of recapitalization process of the Greek banking system, restructurings (mergers and take-overs) of the banks in Greece, it is more than ever of strategic importance to protect jobs, salaries and labour rights of Greek bank employees through a collective agreement. If the Sectoral Collective Agreement will not be signed by the Greek banks and OTOE, this will work against the whole banking sector and erode solidarity, leaving the sector wide open to employer abuses.
During the next period, UNI Europa Finance will make necessary interventions towards all relevant European Institutions, in order to demand respect to social dialogue from the employers, the government and the Troika, and protection of labour rights through signature of a new collective agreement.
In the insurance sector, insurance companies and their organization (EAEE- Hellenic Association of Insurance Companies of Greece), despite the profit that they made during the last 3 years, taking full advantage of the possibility offered by the Troika (European Commission-ECB-IMF) and the Greek Government, did not renew the sectoral collective agreement and are leading employees to individual agreements with huge salary cuts and abolishment of labour rights. UNI Europa Finance supports the demand of OASE and declares that UNI Europa Finance will put pressure on the EU institutions, the government and the employers for the return of the sectoral collective agreement and the non-applying of labour conditions which lead the sector and the country decades behind.