Union says HSBC strike to continue on day-to-day basis

MUBE president William Portelli has warned that the union of the banking employees will continue its industrial action at HSBC on a day-by-day basis for the coming days.

Speaking at a joint press conference with the General Workers Union’s section secretary Charles Galea and MUBE representative at HSBC Joseph Figallo, the MUBE president said it was up to the bank to act now.

“This is an unusual dispute, as relations had been quite good. It is rare to see the two unions at the same press conference, and this underlines the seriousness of the issue…. We are seeing a slightly different position from normal industrial action. From its press releases the bank appears to be more interested in pique with the unions than serving its customers. The union is inviting a counterproposal, but has never received one.”

The MUBE strike at HSBC entered its third day Wednesday following a vote taken yesterday by the bank’s employees.

Some 900 employees are obeying the industrial directives, after a gradual escalation following HSBC’s decision to renege on a collective agreement hammered out back in August 2014.

MUBE yesterday recieved an overwhelming mandate to continue with strike action, which so far has reported no progress in talks with the bank.

Portelli would not speculate on ulterior motives on the part of the bank, but noted that the bank was “aggressively expansionist in its business practises.”

The disagreement in August 2014 was specifically about a remuneration package for employees. “But the dispute is not about this, it is about the way they negotiate,” Portelli said, saying the bank had not conceded an inch. “It was acting unfairly in a series of events, which always went one way. We couldn’t carry on like this.”

The GWU’s Charles Galea said Maltese trade unionism was not used to this kind of intransigence. “When our members are threatened with lock-out we have no choice but to order strike action. People outside need to understand this, the employees need to fight for their rights. Here we are talking about a bank, not a hotel that has a few hundred guests who can be moved elsewhere: this bank affects many businesses.”

The MUBE has said that negotiations that started in October 2013 and which had reached mutual agreement in August 2014, were unilaterally withdrawn by the bank.

In March 2014, the bank indicated to workers it would increase salaries without any input from the unions. “This is a trend that is very dangerous to the process of collective bargaining, even at European level. Giving pay-raises during the negotiations does not constitute dialogue. Foreign unions are telling us that this is a tactic commonly used by HSBC. If other employers try to follow this method it could be dangerous to the economy as a whole.”

Portelli apologised for the inconvenience caused to the clients, but said that the extreme nature of situation had led to this action.

“Overwhelmingly, the members are decided. They are angry, especially because they have a feeling that the bank is not realising that its practises are not giving the workforce the space to work in an environment that leads to service with a smile.”

He said MUBE members wanted to sign the collective agreement, but their extra hours of work were not being acknowledged. “HSBC’s unilateral decision-making creates uncertainty about job security and all that entail.”