HSBC strike back on after bank presents 'unacceptable' offer
The offer included a condition that would forfeit the right to strike, the union said
HSBC workers are back on their sit-in strike after the bank presented a compensation offer that the bank employees' union found to be 'wholly unacceptable'.
The Malta Union of Bank Employees (MUBE) said that the offer put forward by HSBC meant that the union would have to forfeit its "fundamental right" to take industrial action.
“This is a red line we will never cross. The right to strike is a pillar of worker protection, not a bargaining chip to be traded away,” MUBE president William Portelli said.
The industrial action was reinstated at 9 am on Friday. The directive calls on HSBC staff to log off all communication channels and bank systems.
"The decision was taken after HSBC's management presented an offer that the MUBE deems wholly unacceptable," the union said.
Apart from this “audacious condition”, the union said that the bank proposed a two-year employment guarantee. But the union also found this to be “inadequate given the significant human cost and uncertainty associated with the bank's ongoing strategic changes”.
The union acknowledged that this strike would cause further inconvenience for the public, but it held the bank responsible.
The sit-in strike initially kicked off on Monday at 12.30 pm due to a dispute linked to the union’s demand for employees to be compensated in view of the bank’s impending sale to CrediaBank.
The strike was then suspended on Wednesday following a meeting with the Department for Industrial and Employment Relations (DIER).
On Thursday, the MUBE released a statement after having a meeting with HBCE Continental Europe – the operating entity of HSBC Group in the EU – saying that the entity agreed that employees should receive some form of compensation.
Sources told Times of Malta that the union is seeking to secure almost €60 million in terminal benefits for employees, citing a collective agreement clause.
HSBC lawyers argue that in this case, the collective agreement clause should not apply, as the bank is not terminating its service, but it will be changing its majority shareholder.
They also point to how the incoming majority shareholder, Greek bank CrediaBank, has ruled out any job losses for at least the first two years of its operations, with all of HSBC Malta’s 900-plus employees set to remain in their posts with the same working conditions.