OTOE presents demands for new banking agreement

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In March 1999, the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE) and the Association of Greek Banks held a first meeting to discuss a new sectoral collective agreement to regulate the pay and conditions of workers in banks and similar enterprises for 1999.

Negotiations have begun over a 1999 collective agreement for Greece's banking sector. At the first meeting on 9 March 1999 between the Greek Federation of Bank Employee Unions (OTOE) and the Association of Greek Banks, the chair of OTOE set out the union's demands, which mainly concern increases in the bank employees' unified pay scale and the protection of employment levels. He also aired the OTOE's claims of widespread violations by the banks of contractual regulations regarding working hours, opening hours and unpaid overtime, and drew the attention of the Association's representatives to the banking employers' obligation to respect contractual obligations. This issue has been the subject of a major campaign by OTOE over the early months of 1999 (GR9903116F).

Below, we outline the main elements of OTOE's framework of demands for the new agreement.

Economic issues

OTOE's economic demands reflect the belief of its general board that an increase in basic wage scales within the unified pay scale is reasonable and necessary in 1999 in order to:

• compensate for anticipated inflation in 1999, so as to protect effectively the incomes of workers in the sector;

• improve real incomes, on the basis of the increase in the total productivity of the Greek economy (calculated as the increase in per capita GDP during 1998), so as to reward workers for contributing to this increased productivity; and

• offset the loss of income resulting from the government's failure to readjust the amount of untaxed income or to index the tax scale (GR9812113N).

While recognising that positive steps have been taken at sector level on the basis of the 1997-8 collective agreement for banking (GR9706117N), OTOE nevertheless states that the evolution of bank employees' pay does not cover the increase in their living expenses and does not reflect the banks' ability to pay higher wages, since productivity and profitability in banks have improved significantly over the past several years.

Protection of employment levels

The OTOE platform includes a number of demands aimed at protecting employment in the sector, notably reduction of working time without loss of pay, creation of a permanent "employment protection committee" and continuing education and training for workers.

As regards working time reductions, OTOE is reiterating its demand for immediate reduction of the working week in banking from 38 hours, 20 minutes (said to be among the longest in Europe) to 35 hours, without loss of pay. OTOE believes that, in view of EU Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and of restructuring and technical and organisational changes in the sector, this demand has taken on central importance both for banking and the economy as a whole. The union also claims that - in accordance with its own assessments and studies, which were to a large extent confirmed by the findings of the bilateral committee of experts set up under the sector's 1996 collective agreement - at the present stage of modernisation and intensified reorganisation in banking, the implementation of the 35-hour week will help save a significant number of jobs. Immediate implementation of the measure is expected to save jobs and/or increase employment in the banking sector by 4%, but only on the condition that the banks do not meet their resulting needs for additional labour by having existing staff work overtime: this is a possibility that must be ruled out through suitable measures, says OTOE.

It is proposed that an "employment protection committee" (EPA) be set up and operate in the framework of the existing "social dialogue committee" established by the 1994-5 banking collective agreement, with the objective of more effectively preventing and dealing with impending quantitative and qualitative restructuring of employment, as well as systematically intervening and supervising relevant developments in the sector. In particular, within the framework of its competences, the EPA should:

1. receive regular and timely information from the banks on (a) planned technical and organisational changes expected significantly to affect employment, job specialisation and employment conditions, (b) the extent of the anticipated implications for employment of such changes, (c) specific measures the banks have taken or are willing to take in order to prevent or minimise any negative consequences for employment, and (d) any recruitment needs, in accordance with the banks' annual planning;

2. examine and utilise company, sector and international data on developments in employment and specialisation in the branch; and

3. be responsible for the settlement and resolution - in agreement with the enterprises concerned, the employees' collective representative structures and the state - of all practical problems arising in connection with employment.

In the framework of its areas of responsibility, the EPA should also utilise international experience to help draw up, within six months of the conclusion of the new collective agreement, a mutually acceptable framework of principles, criteria and procedures to implement suitable systems of early retirement in banking enterprises. OTOE states that the proposed new provisions in this area do not affect the sector's existing collective regulations and employment protection institutions (as set out in the collective agreements signed in 1984, 1989 (article 10) and 1994 (articles 2.1 and 2.2)), but are rather a necessary supplement and extension of them.

OTOE states that the new conditions in the Greek banking system highlight the importance of continuing education and vocational training and necessitate new ways of incorporating it in companies' total strategy, through the timely and systematic diagnosis of educational needs and through the systematic evaluation of the results of the education and training provided, in terms of workers' performance and professional advancement. Given these conditions, the OTOE proposes a set of basic preconditions, in order to ensure that the training and education is adequate in quantitative and qualitative terms:

• putting in place systems which allow the means and objectives of training to be determined rationally;

• timely retraining and further education of workers so that they can adapt to the new demands of individual tasks and specialisations;

• certification, recognition and utilisation of the education provided at branch and company level;

• increased allocation of resources to education and training; and

• creation of institutions and infrastructures for initial vocational education and integrated courses of study to promote the professional development and advancement of workers, particularly of new recruits.

The union's framework of demands for 1999 also includes issues such as health and safety, promotion of equal opportunities for women and men, and the introduction of new interest rates for housing and personal loans to bank staff.

The representatives of the Association of Greek Banks committed themselves to study the OTOE proposals, and a further meeting was scheduled for 22 March 1999.

Commentary

OTOE's framework of demands for the 1999 banking collective agreement is without doubt an example of good practice, principally insofar as it broadens the agenda of collective bargaining beyond purely economic issues. This is mainly due to the fact that the trade union movement in the banking sector has opted to take action to pursue the objectives of economic development of the sector, improvement of workers' circumstances and social cohesion. At a time when unemployment and ways to boost employment are at the centre of debate, OTOE has presented an integrated programme of measures to protect employment in the banking sector, and many observers and experts expect the banks to be the first sector to see a generalised implementation of the 35-hour week without loss of pay. Nevertheless, the outcome of the negotiations over the 1999 collective agreement, especially as regards reduction of working time, will depend to a large degree on the stand taken by OTOE concerning implementation of this measure, in light also of the fact that it is becoming clear to observers that the Association of Greek Banks intends to agree to the 35-hour week in exchange for deregulation of banks' opening hours. (Eva Soumeli, INE/GSEE)