The Malta Union of Bankers has requested a conciliation meeting with the acting director of the Employment and Industrial Relations to settle the long outstanding dispute with HSBC.
In a statement yesterday, MUBE said it hoped sense would prevail. “As this is normal practice and in line with the local legal framework that regulates the mediation and conciliatory process in Malta, MUBE reiterates that the union only seeks mediation when there is serious disagreement and/or stalemate,” the union said.
It added that it had advised HSBC management that the bank’s unwillingness to collaborate fuelled much unwarranted speculation amongst the workforce about whether the bank had serious intentions to reach an agreement.
The union and the bank have been locked in a dispute over a collective agreement, with the union holding a strike of several days last month. The strike ended after intervention by the Office of the Prime Minister but, despite this, no agreement has been reached as yet.