What will happen in the trade union match of Intesa
Facts, curiosities and indiscretions on the comparison between the first Italian bank and the trade unions in relation to the integration of Ubi. The grumbling of the workers and all the issues on the table
After the Intesa Sanpaolo takeover bid on Ubi with the sale to Bper of 624 branches and the passage of 5,107 workers, an integration still to be managed and defined (stomach ache among workers and customers in the territories are still many), , next week, within the first Italian banking group, a difficult trade union match for the "harmonization" between the economic and regulatory treatment of Ubi employees merged into Intesa.
However, not only is the near future of former Ubi employees at stake, but the fate of all Intesa employees also with respect to internal organizational choices that could bring to light the widespread and badly dormant discontent of employees with respect to the commercial pressures, a reform of the grades (passed on 7 October 2015) which penalizes them economically compared to employees of other banking groups and other measures taken by the managers of the group's trade union relations. Just as the professional figure of the “hybrid contract” has aroused discontent, openly opposed by the unions because he is nothing more than “a two-headed monster”, half paid in fixed salary and half in commission as a financial consultant.
Today it takes little to know in detail all the salary levels in the sector and it is now clear to all that employees, after that 2015 reform, are in a worse economic and regulatory position than the rest of the category. If, then, we add that the reports on commercial pressures are never taken into consideration by the bank, the picture is clear. This is precisely due to a system set up by those who manage trade union relations that prevents the anonymity of reports by employees as envisaged, however, by the national agreement introduced in 2017 in the collective bargaining agreement. In short, having made the law, the deception was found, but discontent among employees is widespread and the trade union organizations of the territories are ready to take legal initiatives, also with respect to the management of the “bank of the territories”.
In Intesa's banking agencies, among employees, it is rumored that too often the attitude of those who manage trade union relations on behalf of the bank is more based on individual initiative than on orders given from above. Also because the managing director of Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina, in words and deeds, has always been particularly attentive to the problems of his employees and particularly sensitive to the social issues of the country. Yet, it is said in trade union circles, Messina should know what the Intesa group, in terms of trade union relations, has managed to set up over many years with agreements and shortcuts through cost cuts that are often inappropriate because they touch the pockets of its employees.
Even with respect to the use of smart working, Messina publicly goes in the direction of a non-massive use of the tool – regulated use in compliance with the national credit agreement – while the manager of the group's trade union relations takes initiatives in stark contrast to those statements, according to what is rumored in the trade unions of the sector. In short, the personal and individual initiatives of those who manage the group's trade union relations weigh on the concrete facts and the words of the bank's top management.
One of the central themes of the negotiation is the use of Plexiglas as a protective element in the branches. The Ubi group was fully equipped with it, as were the vast majority of banking groups, while the Intesa group, inexplicably, does not want to know and a few days ago the same head of trade union relations, Susanna Ordasso, officially declared to the unions that "the the bank absolutely does not want to equip all branches with Plexiglas barriers ». At the time, then, to disclose the bank's proposals on the integration of the Ubi and Intesa pension funds, the economic and regulatory coverage of all the former Ubi executives who passed to Intesa was sensationally lacking: a mistake, we must hope for good faith, filled the following day with an addition to the initial document.
Starting from Tuesday 2 March, relevant topics for all workers of the Intesa group are at stake: mobility, job positions, commercial policies, pension funds, health fund, welfare (permits, working life times, law 104), child benefits, meal vouchers, mortgages and current account, after work and corporate club, company bonus 2021. Considering the numerous issues to be addressed, it will certainly be a marathon that should reserve, using respect and responsibility towards the employees of the group, several months of in-depth trade union discussions. At least this is how the trade unions are invoked in order not only to protect all the 81,600 workers of the group in the best possible way, but also to be able to share important topics with the bank that affect everyone's personal and professional life. From the first indications expressed by the head of trade union relations, Ordasso, on the other hand, the Intesa group wants to accelerate the discussion on all the topics in the 50 days of trade union discussions required by law which, however, could easily be overcome with an agreement of extension between the parties.
Tackling calmly and above all with responsibility a whole series of important and decisive issues concerning the lives of employees would be – hope for leading exponents of banking unionism – not only the most appropriate choice, but it would certainly go in the direction, always desired by the top management of the bank to guarantee the necessary safeguards and guarantees to all group employees.
Start will follow the entire trade union affair step by step, obviously giving a voice to all parties and in a constructive spirit.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/che-cosa-succedera-nella-partita-sindacale-di-intesa/ on Sat, 27 Feb 2021 13:14:43 +0000.