VALÈNCIA (EP) Banco Sabadell workers have gathered this Wednesday at its headquarters in Valencia to protest against the Employment Regulation File (ERE) proposed by the entity’s management, which includes 1,730 layoffs and 500 offices throughout the country. In the Valencian Community it would mean the departure of 395 people and the closure of 80 offices.
The protest coincided with the strike day that took place in A Coruña, Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Bilbao, Castellón, Ibiza, Las Palmas, León, Madrid, Málaga, Murcia, Oviedo, Palma, Pamplona, San Sebastián, Valencia, Valladolid and Zaragoza, and which according to the unions has meant the closure of 85% of the offices.
Sources from the entity, for their part, have stated that operational continuity and customer service have not been altered, despite the possible inconvenience caused and have reiterated their willingness to continue negotiating with the aim of reaching a favorable agreement for all parts.
During the protest in Valencia, union representatives have described the ERE as “savage” and have lamented the “unworthy conditions” offered by the company. According to the UGT representative, Brillit Gabarda“no entity has dared to propose an ERE in these unworthy conditions”.
“We are not second-class employees, Sabadell workers do not deserve less than other colleagues from entities that have recently completed their ERE”. “We are not worth less than other bank employees,” he remarked in statements to Europa Press.
For her part, the representative of the ALTA union, the majority in the Eastern Territorial (Valencian Community, Murcia and the Balearic Islands), Marta Arce, has called for “dialogue” so that “voluntariness comes first.”
Today’s protest, he said, is “for the 1,730 people that Banco Sabadell intends to end up on the street but also for the employees who will continue to provide their services because this not only regulates dismissal but also forced and geographical mobility that implies a modification of substantial working conditions,” he warned.
Thus, he has demanded “dignified and fair conditions” for both the staff and the clients, who will also “be affected by the closure of 35% of the offices,” he warned. For the union spokesperson, “if Banco Sabadell considers itself a socially responsible company, it has to take into account all its stakeholders, not just the shareholders, for whom a 30% increase in their dividend is expected, or not just the CEO who has raised his salary.
For this Friday, October 8, another strike day has been called in Alicante, Almería, Barcelona, Bilbao, Castellón, Gijón, Ibiza, León, Madrid, Murcia, Pamplona, Sabadell, San Sebastián, Santiago de Compostela, Santa Cruz de Tenerife and Valencia. , if an agreement is not reached before Thursday’s meeting.
bank proposal
In its latest proposal, Banco Sabadell lowered the exits contemplated in the proposed ERE by 206, going from 1,936 to 1,730 affected. Specifically, 1,450 exits would take place in the branch network, of which 1,025 would be administrative positions and 425 managers, 35 in territorial management and 245 in central services.
In addition, the bank improved some of its proposals, by including in the groups that can adhere to the measures all the entity’s commercial staff, while being favorable to including a maximum quota of 50 people, if necessary at some point. territory, of people between 50 and 55 years old.
Sabadell management also improved its proposal for early retirement for those workers with at least 15 years of service. The group of workers over 58 years of age, and up to 62 years of age, would have an early retirement of 57% of the annual salary –compared to the 55% previously proposed by the entity–, while employees who retire early between 56 and 57 years old will have an early retirement of 55% of the salary –compared to the previous 50%–, with a cap of 270,000 euros and discounting unemployment and subsidies that could be requested.
For those under 50 years of age and over 56 years of age with less than 15 years of seniority, it has proposed incentive reductions of 30 days of salary, up to a maximum of 20 monthly payments, to which 2,000 euros would be added for a full three-year period. Previously, the entity contemplated compensation of 27 days per year worked, up to a maximum of 18 monthly payments.
Finally, the entity accepted functional mobility. Specifically, given the permitted departure of specialized managers, they may promote basic or administrative managers.
Rejection of the unions
In the meeting held last Tuesday, however, the legal representation of the workers, including the CCOO and UGT unions, continued to demand that Banco Sabadell’s management apply voluntariness in the ERE.
In addition, CCOO continued to insist on reducing the number of those affected in the process, while the union platform in which the UGT is included pointed out that the written proposal that Sabadell sent to the unions would pose “unacceptable conditions” on force and geographical mobility that “represent a substantial change in working conditions, something that the bank had not recognized from the start, even denying it in interventions throughout the past sessions and that it is now putting on the table”.
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