Unprecedented unrest in banking sector

Late September 1999 saw the first general strike in the Belgian banking sector since 1972. The one-day strike called by the sector's trade unions was followed by personnel in the banks' central headquarters and in over half of branch offices across the country. The action was the climax of discontent that has been building since August 1999 in the context of major upheavals in Belgian banking. In November, the positions of employers and unions were no closer together, and the remainder of the year should be decisive.

Traditionally free of industrial relations tension, the Belgian banking sector has been in turmoil since the end of summer 1999, a period during which a new collective agreement should have been concluded. The climax was a one-day sector-wide general strike called on 24 September by a number of trade unions acting in unison: the Belgian Union of White-Collar Staff, Technicians and Managers (Syndicat des Employés, Techniciens et Cadres de Belgique/Bedienden, Technicien Kaders van België, SETCA/BBTK), the National Federation of White-Collar Workers (Centrale Nationale des Employés/Landelijke Bedienden Central, CNE/LBC) and the Federation of Liberal Trade Unions of Belgium (Centrale Générale des Syndicaux Libéraux de Belgique/Algemene Centrale der Liberale Vakbonden van België, CGSLB/ACLVB). The strike - the first since 1972 - paralysed banks' central and administrative headquarters and 50% to 65% of branch offices throughout the country.

Long considered a privileged sector, banking is now suffering the consequences of a series of high-profile mergers. Its employees complain increasingly not only of the threat to their employment but also of the deterioration of working conditions and of their purchasing power. Although employment in the sector has risen by 2.9% recently, this increase is mainly due to hiring by specialised banks. The major banking concerns are instead confronting the consequences of cost-cutting by resorting to early retirement and, more importantly, by "franchising" an increasing number of branch offices. Through this process, employees become self-employed workers or are employed by a self-employed branch manager. One consequence of franchising is that the employees concerned are no longer included in the sphere of competence of the industry's Joint Committee (No. 310).

The trade union coalition is making the following demands: immediate application of a 35-hour working week with compensatory recruitment (creating approximately 2,000 jobs); four additional days of leave per year; an annual bonus of BEF 18,000 injected into pay scales that have not been reviewed since 1978; annualisation of working time; keeping employees in franchised branch offices in the sphere of competence of joint committee 310; renunciation by employers of Saturday opening of branch offices; and limitations on franchising.

For its part, the Belgian Bankers' Association (Association Belge des Banques/Belgische Vereniging van Banken, ABB/ BVB) opposes annualisation of working time. Although not opposed in principle to the 35-hour working week nor to the introduction of the four-day week, wherever the organisation of work permits, ABB/BVB lays down a condition: opening banks on Saturdays, which would be assimilated into normal working days. This condition requires revising a 1959 collective agreement, which authorises Saturday openings only on very restrictive terms. Last, as regards the annual bonus aimed at upgrading purchasing power, ABB/BVB proposes adapting this system to the specific situation of each bank. This would translate to an annual pre-tax sum per employee ranging between BEF 9,000 and BEF 18,000.

The president of joint committee 310, Eddy Schelstraete, has been endeavouring since September to reconcile the points of view of trade union organisations and employers, without success. The forthcoming round of negotiations was scheduled for 17 November.