On Monday (3rd September) NSZZ Solidarnosc in Eurobank (Poland) organised a workers’ meeting with a special guest Angelo Di Cristo – the head of UNI Finance, also responsible for social dialogue in Société Générale group. Trade union is affiliated to UNI Finance and the bank is a part of Société Générale group. The meeting took place near the bank’s headquarters in Wroclaw. Di Cristo wanted to grasp the overall view of the workers’ situation in Eurobank – especially in the view of the disturbing information about the breaches of union liberties in Eurobank. Trade union liberties are one of the fundamental rules in Global Framework Agreements signed by Société Générale group and trade unions in 2015.
At present, the union in Eurobank is under collective dispute. The union demands to sign the agreement with the bank on so called “Package of Workers’ Guarantees”, creation a pay grid (which does not exist in the bank), uniforms paid by the employer, and revision of wages since 2003 – as the bank wrongly calculated workers’ wages in some periods of times (what was proven by Polish Labor Inspectorate).
Couple dozens of workers came to the meeting during their brake and after working hours. The workers were asking about bank’s attitude towards union demands and how Uni Finance could support them here in Poland. They were also asking about their future situation related to the potential sale of the bank, about which they read in press releases. This issue creates unrest among Eurobank workforce because – as workers’ were saying – it undermines the security of their employment (eg. in case of merger of the banks). That is why the union in Eurobank prepared the “Package of Workers’ Guarantees” which includes the rules on social provisions and union liberties. The union hopes to signed the Package with the bank management, as a crucial security net in case of the sale of Eurobank. The meeting with Angelo Di Cristo showed UNI Finance support for union activities in Poland related to the enhancement of the quality of social dialogue in Eurobank.
