MADRID, 11 (EUROPEAN PRESS)

The UGT has asked the management of Banco Santander in Spain to “lead” wage increases within the framework of sectoral observations between the trade unions and the Spanish Banking Association (AEB), where the situation of the banking sector is in the current high inflation scenario , as they have been transferred to Europa Press in sources union.

The union organization has stated that this request has been forwarded to the CEO of the bank in Spain, Antonio Simoes, with whom he held a bilateral meeting a few weeks before the start of the summer and before the entity’s planned wage increases were already implemented in other geographies, such as the United Kingdom.

For the UGT, it is “pathetic” that the “discriminatory” treatment at the level of the group “suffered” countries “where improvements have not been made”, although acknowledging that in Spain this request was made at the sectoral level before the associations of bankers AEB and CECA.

However, the UGT stated that Santander was “reluctant” to the measure of implementing the pay increase, which is why it pushed him to “facilitate” the process at the union meeting with the AEB.

Meanwhile, CCOO also met with Simoes in mid-July, when he transferred the initiative to open the negotiating table for banking agreements “and thereby negotiate the restoration of purchasing power” and “improvement of working conditions”.

In recent months, CC.OO., UGT and FINE have asked AEB and CECA to open negotiations to review the collective agreement under the provisions of article 86.1 of the Workers Statute.

As they defend, the current scenario is different from the scenario that existed at the time of the current agreement negotiations (negative interest rates, economic prospects of no recovery over the next ten years and a global pandemic). In addition, bank profits increased, while the working conditions of the workforce and their purchasing power deteriorated.

The union and the AEB are scheduled to meet again on September 20 to continue analyzing the situation, while the meeting with CECA will take place on Thursday, September 15.