News

UNI Americas, continental arm of UNI Global Union, met last Monday 16th December with Itaú’s directors in Sao Paulo, advancing negotiations towards the construction and signing of a Global Framework Agreement that will guarantee the Brazilian bank’s employees in all countries of the Americas, the fundamental rights included in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) declaration; unionisation, freedom of association and collective bargaining.

This was the third round of negotiations between UNI Americas and Itaú on the Framework Agreement. At the previous meeting held on June 20th, also in Sao Paulo, union leaders of UNI, Contraf-CUT and representatives of bank workers in Argentina, Uruguay, Chile and Paraguay delivered the text proposal for the Framework Agreement to Itaú directors.

"These meetings are an important space for dialogue between the union movement across the continent and Itaú, which today is a bank that operates beyond the boundaries of Brazil and is present in several countries in Latin America. Therefore, the signing of the Global Framework Agreement is important in order to guarantee bank workers of neighbour nations, respect for union relationship practices constructed here in Brazil where the head office is located. At the meeting the bank suggested there were good chances that it would sign the agreement, which is in the “final stage of internal review" said Carlos Cordeiro, president of Contraf-CUT and UNI Americas Finance.

Freedom of association

At the meeting on Monday 16th, the South American union leaders reaffirmed the need to consider three fundamental points in the agreement, relating to freedom of association, union access to workplaces, and dissemination of the agreement among employees.

"We want the next meeting to also be a seminar, where we can bring together bank workers’ unions and HR managers of countries where Itaú is present. The bank will be able to explain its international policy, and UNI Americas will make an institutional presentation," explained André Luís Rodrigues, regional director of UNI Americas.

As well as Carlos Cordeiro and André, we will have the attendance of Itaú Union Network’s coordinator, Horacio Sartori, La Bancaria Argentina, the general secretary of the Bank Workers Union of Itaú Paraguay, Didar Pakraván, the director of the The Confederation of Bank and Related Workers' Trade Unions in Chile (Csteba), Javier Márquez, and the director of the Uruguayan Association of Bank Employees (Aebu), José Enrique Iglesias Criet.