According to the banking union, Private Banking places as a condition the relinquishment of “acquired rights” in exchange for providing solutions to the cash crisis.
The workers of Uruguayan private banks carry out a national strike from 6 in the morning today and until 15, within the framework of the conflict for the Bank Retirement and Pension Fund. The measure affects operations at the head offices, branches and agencies of Itaú, Santander, Citibank, BBVA, Scotiabank, HSBC and Heritage, companies grouped in the Association of Private Banks of Uruguay (ABPU).
The stoppage of activities occurs after the workers of the Private Bank declared a conflict for the defense of the Caja Bancaria —on the verge of bankruptcy due to the unsustainability of the pension system—, and “in search of solutions to its deficit finance,” according to a statement released by the Uruguayan Banking Association (AEBU).
According to the union, the private banks in which the force measure is carried out “put sticks in the wheel and refuse to provide solutions” in the face of the evident banking crisis. Furthermore, they argue that companies “extort workers”.
An extortive negotiation
This is not the first time that this type of crossover has occurred between workers and private banks: in the middle of last month, the discussion about whether Private Banking should contribute more in terms of Employer Complementary Benefit (PCP) or if, instead, the employees had to renounce “the rights they had won” —benefits acquired through the workers’ struggle, according to the understanding of those affected, such as sick pay or seniority bonus—, was the center of the conflict and the search for a short-term solution.
On this occasion, the strike is carried out again due to the extortive nature that AEBU warns in ABPU. In this sense —and unlike what happens in public banks, which have already agreed to advance the payment of contributions to guarantee the immediate sustainability of Caja Bancaria— private sector workers denounce that the companies “they refuse to provide solutions if in exchange for it the workers do not give up working conditions and benefits that we have enshrined in collective agreements, a totally opportunistic, stingy, greedy and greedy attitude”.
From AEBU they ask for an “urgent change of attitude” from the Association of Private Banks. To emphasize the request is that they carry out the national strike, during which there will be guard to ensure normal operation of the tasks that have to do solely with the process and accreditation of salaries, retirements, and the tasks agreed by collective agreement.
Financial crisis and lack of liquidity
The conflict over the retirement and pension fund has its history, and it was already anticipated in the projections of the fund that for this year there would be a critical situation in financial termsbut “such a level of depth of crisis” was not expected.
The factors behind this situation are several. On the one hand, due to government decisions not to replace seats in public banks, and business decisions to do the same in private banks; on the other, due to the application of technology “that subtracts human jobs”, and due to outsourcing “that makes work precarious, because what should be paid is not paid and it is paid in another institute that is not the cashier”.
Currently, the Caja Bancaria is facing a lack of liquidity that does not allow you to face payments “in a few months,” and assistance is likely to be needed by November.
Source: Ambito
