HSBC strike suspended amid payout dispute

Updated at 8.34am with details of strike suspension

HSBC workers suspended their strike on Wednesday, with the bank employees' union warning that industrial action would resume if it does not receive a "reasonable" offer for compensation.

The union said that after meeting with DIER yesterday, another meeting with a representative of the HSBC group was scheduled for later today. 

It informed its members that it had “decided to temporarily suspend directives pending the meeting scheduled for today”.

“Regrettably, to date the bank is yet to make a concrete proposal to unblock the impasse and initiate discussions,” the union said

On Monday, bank employees’ union MUBE issued a directive calling on HSBC employees to log off their systems and stage a sit-in strike.

The union said it resorted to industrial action after the bank failed to engage with it over its demands for bank workers to receive compensation once the bank changes hands.

Yesterday morning, the two sides were brought together for conciliatory talks by Malta’s industrial relations department (DIER).

Sources say the union is asking the bank to pay terminal benefits to its workers, in line with a clause in their collective agreement.

The clause says that “in cases of termination of service by the bank for reasons of redundancy or abolition of posts or transfer of business, or by way of merger, takeover or otherwise,” employees would be eligible for terminal benefits.

This would entitle each worker to a month’s salary for each year they have spent with the bank, capped at a maximum of three years’ salary.

Hopes of reaching an agreement were slim, with the two sides still at odds over how they interpret the contentious clause

Sources say the payout is estimated to cost the bank almost €60 million.

Insiders who spoke to Times of Malta say the hopes of reaching an agreement yesterday were slim, with the two sides still at odds over how they interpret the contentious clause.

HSBC lawyers argue that since the bank will not be terminating its service, but will simply be changing its majority shareholder, the clause should not apply.

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.

HSBC is also believed to be unwilling to bend too far in negotiations, wary of setting a precedent for the bank’s expected exits from other, larger jurisdictions over the coming years. On the other hand, union officials are believed to be pointing to previous instances in which HSBC has provided workers with compensation upon selling its stake and exiting the country.

HSBC’s exit from Greece in 2022 had prompted a similar dispute, with workers being absorbed by Pancreta Bank, which took over HSBC’s operations, also demanding compensation.

Sources told Times of Malta that HSBC is open to offering employees some form of goodwill compensation once the bank’s sale is completed, however there remains “a gulf” between HSBC’s offer and the union’s demands.