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According to CONTRAF, Santander has adopted anti-union practices in Brazil.

The bank’s strategy is to ask the courts to deal with a dispute which should have been discussed with labour representatives. The best way of handling such issues is to immediately establish round table discussions and to listen and give consideration to the problems that both sides might wish to present.



By going to the courts, Bank Santander is trying to silence the voice of Brazilian workers who are fighting for their rights. This strategy is being used by the Spanish bank in response to the protest organized by bank employees on 11 April 2013 throughout Brazil. The protest highlighted low staffing levels, dismissals, unfair targets and moral harassment and called for better working and occupational and health conditions, equal opportunities and the recognition of pensioners’ rights. Santander, for its part, has filed a complaint against the Bank Employees Union of Sao Paolo and the Osasco Region, Fetec-CUT, Contraf-CUT and various other unions in the country.



Santander started using this strategy of intimidation for the first time in 2011 when the bank sued the union as a reaction to the protest organized by bank employees during the last game of the Copa Libertatores (the most prestigious club competition in South American soccer) of which the bank is a sponsor. The union organizers were ordered to pay 1.5 million reais ($732,000). The decision is under appeal. This time, Santander is asking the courts to impose a much higher fine in order to deprive the unions of their financial resources because they don’t believe that they will otherwise succeed in silencing the union as they had hoped when they took the first case to court. It is unacceptable that a multinational company, which generates 26% of its global profits in Brazil, resorts to practices that do not respect freedom of association and trade union action. Santander cannot stop bank employees from exercising their legitimate right to organize and to express their views in all areas where the group is active. Given the seriousness of the situation, UNI suggests that a new method be found to engage in a productive dialogue with the unions.



UNI and its affiliates express its full support to the Brazilian unions and Santander employees in Brazil.