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Unions and bank employers meet in Sao Paulo

UNI global union and the Brazilian banking trade union federation Contraf-CUT have met the country’s bank employers in Sao Paulo to press for a global agreement.

Contraf-CUT president Vagner Freitas urged the banks to join in a working group to examine the details of a global agreement - which would establish dialogue and rights in Brazilian banks as they grow their operations internationally.

Agreement at a federation level would mean a global agreement dealing with labour rights and dialogue covering more than 500,000 workers, including those employed outside of Brazil, and would include private and public Brazilian banks and multinational banks in Brazil.

UNI Deputy General Secretary Philip Bowyer signed global agreements in Sao Paulo on October 2 with two telecom technical outsourcing companies Ability and ICOMON and an agreement was signed just a few weeks ago with Danske Bank in Denmark.

These agreements ensure labour rights agreed at the International Labour Organisation wherever the companies operate and build in provisions for dialogue and dispute settlement.

UNI has now signed global agreements with 22 multinational companies and talks are well advanced with a number of other employers, including the biggest temporary work agencies.



UNI and Contraf-CUT group

“This is a very important meeting for UNI global union - finance is one of our biggest sectors around the world,” Philip Bowyer told the bank employers’ negotiators. “Global agreements do not solve all problems but they do provide a framework for better cooperation and to improve the situation for companies and workers.”

Brazil has long standing collective bargaining at the national level of the bank sector.

“We are always open to dialogue with the union movement,” Magnus Apostolico of the employers’ negotiating group FENABAN told the union team. “FENABAN understands the purpose of establishing general principles of rights and obligations for employers and workers.”

A public commitment to international dialogue and agreement by banks in the increasingly important Brazilian economy would send a positive message in a continent more often used to conflict, said UNI’s Noel Howell.



Philip Bowyer with UNI-Americas' Rodolfo Benitez

Further progress in the discussions with Brazilian banks is likely to await the settlement of the current pay dispute between Contraf-CUT and FENABAN. Strikes are already underway in a number of key Brazilian cities and are due to reach the country’s financial capital Sao Paulo on October 8.

The employers have offered a pay increase barely above the inflation rate of 7.1% and bank unions are pressing for 13.75%.