News

Bank branch workers and their unions are fighting back against bank executives who are pushing unethical sales practices, creating unnecessary risk in the global economy and taking home huge bonuses after causing the financial crisis.



The finance unions are gathering in Estoril, Portugal, for a conference hosted by UNI Global Union.



“Unions are coming together in Portugal to fight for ethical banking practices and to end over-the top bonuses for executives,” said UNI Global Union General Secretary Philip Jennings.” Workers are angry at the out of touch bank chiefs who put them under incredible pressure to sell risky products to customers who don’t understand them. The banking bosses caused the financial crisis but it is taxpayers and workers who were expected to pay the price while the CEOs line their own pockets.”



The UNI Finance Global Conference brings together the largest group of bank workers and their unions in the world. Under the theme “Back to the Future”, the workers are demanding a return to banking traditions that emphasize products that meet customers’ needs and wants. They are also calling for regulation of the industry and workers’ rights for bank branch employees.



“Workers and the trade union movement are under attack,” said Head of UNI Finance Oliver Roethig. “The European court said in a recent decision that the fundamental rights of an Estonian ferry are greater than those of workers, which means they believe business concerns always come before the fundamental right to collective bargaining and workers’rights.”



The message from finance unions is clear: bank workers are tired of being blamed for a crisis they didn’t create.



A prime example of this phenomenon is in Greece, where banking managers have used the crisis as an excuse to cut pay and make it easier to cut jobs. The Greek government has sided with the bosses in a move based on the same neoliberal policies that caused the financial crisis, enrich the few and impoverish ordinary citizens.



Greek banking managers will cut a “bonus” payment to workers that had been negotiated during collective bargaining, while imposing no such limits on top management who still took home fat checks at the end of last year.



“Workers should not have to pay for the mistakes that overpaid finance CEOs made,” Jennings said. “We won’t accept it in Greece, we won’t accept it in Portugal and we won’t accept it anywhere in the world. We are fighting back!”



UNI Global Union is the global union for skills and services representing more than 20 million workers around the world. UNI Finance represents 3 million finance workers in 237 trade unions globally.



Photo Call and Press Conference: UNI will hold a demonstration against “casino capitalism” in front of the Casino Estoril, Av. Dr. Stanley Ho, 2765-190 Estoril, from 12:00-13:15 on

Wednesday, March 16.



For more information in English:

Rachel Cohen

Head of Communications, UNI Global Union



+41 79 888 0753

Rachel.cohen@uniglobalunion.org



Follow UNI’s Bank on Rights campaign online:



http://www.bankonrights.org



http://twitter.com/PJenningsUNI



http://twitter.com/uniglobalunion