Intesa Sanpaolo and Abi, what will happen after the tear of Messina
Reactions, comments and scenarios after the shock at the Abi house due to the move by Intesa Sanpaolo which communicated to the ABI the revocation of the trade union representation mandate for the renewal of the contract of bank employees
“As regards the situation between Intesa Sanpaolo and Abi , we will all work to find a positive solution, but if Intesa Sanpaolo's decision had already been taken some time ago, the search for a scapegoat becomes useless”.
This is what the general secretary of Fabi , Lando Maria Sileoni, put in writing after Intesa Sanpaolo's "Marchionne-esque" rift on the renewal of the bank contract.
The leader of the major Italian trade union added: “We are not against, as someone wrote today, the 'short week', on the contrary we support it with conviction, also because we already signed it in 1999 in a national contract. We are not even against smart working which, however, must be regulated to protect those employees who could one day run the risk of finding themselves outsourced. And it must also be made available voluntarily to those colleagues who work in agencies. We want to manage with the banks all the changes taking place in the sector in the common interest”.
"One aspect must be clear – Sileoni wrote – we will never accept impositions and diktats and therefore I invite everyone to be extremely cautious, also by virtue of the fact that I have arguments that I can use to protect myself, to protect the organization and the category". Conclusion of Fabi's number one: "I hope that Dr. Carlo Messina will remain at the helm of the group for many more years, but I invite him to listen to the disinterested considerations of those who have the same goal as you: the growth of the bank and the well-being of its employees".
THE EFFECTS OF THE MARCHIONNESQUE SHAKE OF INTESA SANPAOLO
The jolt caused by the banking group headed by the CEO, Carlo Messina, is therefore being felt in the credit institutions and in the unions. Intesa Sanpaolo has in fact revoked the mandate for trade union representation at the ABI, to autonomously manage its participation in the bargaining. However, membership in the association remains confirmed, the credit group stressed.
THE UNION QUESTION
But Intesa Sanpaolo's decision is revolutionary. Of course, several contracts already exist in the banking world. Just think of cooperative credit, or, at a company level, the Bank of Italy. “However, what took place yesterday is an unprecedented situation, in which Abi and Intesa Sanpaolo will be on one side of the table and Fabi, First, Fisac, Uilca and Unisin on the other. The first test bench will be the meeting on 13 March”, underlined Il Sole 24 Ore, also because Intesa is the largest bank in Italy, where about a third of the 270,000 Italian bankers work.
NO AGREEMENT WITH INTESA SANPAOLO
The very open confrontation with the trade unions was known – in fact there had been no agreement – on a new work organization model which makes it possible to integrate several tools such as smart working, flexible working hours and the short week, a possibility also provided for by the Abi contract.
THE REVOLUTIONARY MOVE ON THE BANKING CONTRACT
As told by Start Magazine in several articles, there are tense tensions in Intesa Sanpaolo over the 4-day work week between the top management of the bank led by the CEO, Carlo Messina, and the trade union organizations. ( here the positions of the unions , here that of the bank and here the in-depth study by Startmag ). In essence, yesterday Intesa Sanpaolo launched a series of initiatives for its employees, including the so-called "short week", flexible working hours and smart working. Topics discussed for a few months at the trade union table, however without reaching a point of equilibrium. Fabi, First Cisl, Fisac Cgil, Uilca and Unisin have not signed the agreement.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER THE TAKE-OFF OF INTESA SANPAOLO
In the renewal of the contract, which expired at the end of 2022, there is a willingness on the part of Intesa to make a contribution as a person sitting at the negotiating table, underlined the newspaper Sole 24 Ore : "But then it will depend on the developments of the discussions and negotiations that the bank will make the final decision. It could therefore happen that Intesa's managers decide to sign the contract or that a more suitable contract is needed, suited to the needs of the bank in a phase like this. According to a spokesman, "Intesa Sanpaolo will continue its dialogue with the unions in full respect of their reciprocal roles, as has always happened, continuing to consider industrial relations an essential element in achieving the group's objectives, in the interest of our people and of the bank". ”.
THE VERSION OF THE ABI
The director general of ABI, Giovanni Sabatini, observes that «the contract is in a preparatory phase. It expired on December 31, 2022, the trade union platform is still missing and in recent days a new extension has been made until April 30. There is still a scenario to be built and managed in an evolving context and it is in this phase that we will begin to confront each other». If the bank's assessments are internal assessments, it is certainly important, underlines Sabatini, that «we will continue to participate in the work together with the representatives of Intesa and that we will have Intesa at our side. We will evaluate the scenario together. We will have to see when a hypothesis of contract renewal is formalized, but we will only understand what will happen when we get to that point.
THE NOTE OF INTESA SANPAOLO
Intesa Sanpaolo yesterday confirmed "that it had communicated to the Italian Banking Association the revocation of the trade union representation mandate and will therefore support ABI in the comparison with the national trade union organizations at sector level, in a phase of particular importance such as the current one", writes the bank in a note, in which it explains how it will continue the dialogue with the unions "in full respect of the reciprocal roles, as has always happened, continuing to consider industrial relations an essential element in achieving the group's objectives, in the interest of our people and the bank".
Furthermore, Intesa Sanpaolo “confirms the centrality of the contribution of the group's people; the full guarantee of individual and collective rights will be ensured, over time, as part of the Collective Bargaining resulting from discussions with the national and company trade union organizations, to provide the most appropriate support for our organizational model and the role played by Intesa Sanpaolo in our Village. Intesa Sanpaolo's adhesion to ABI – specifies the institution – remains confirmed”.
THE INDISCRETIONS
Some journalistic reconstructions also attribute the tensions between Intesa Sanpaolo and ABI to other reasons. As president of the Casl, the Abi's Trade Union and Labor Affairs Committee, the Abi's executive committee recently appointed Ilaria Maria Dalla Riva, Head of People & Culture Italy of UniCredit (Dalla Riva is the first woman to hold this role ), following the resignation of Salvatore Poloni as chairman following the conclusion of his role as co-general manager of Banco Bpm.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/intesa-sanpaolo-e-abi-che-cosa-succedera-dopo-lo-strappo-di-messina/ on Fri, 03 Mar 2023 15:44:34 +0000.