Cyprus Mail 10 October 2019 - article by George Psyllides
Bank workers union Etyk on Thursday accused the Hellenic Bank management of violating the industrial relations code and of refusing to comply with the labour minister’s decisions in a pay dispute that will force the lender to keep its branches closed on Friday because of a 24-hour strike by staff.
The union also indirectly accused the media of siding with the lender saying the management was exploiting its “capability to convince the mass media of its views”.
Etyk said it felt the need to restore the truth, arguing that its readiness to enter talks for the renewal of the collective agreement was a given but the management had refused to comply with the minister’s decision.
The management “arbitrarily violates the agreements and the industrial relations code”, Etyk said, adding that it was obliged to implement the current collective agreement – which expired in 2018.
The union said it was prepared to discuss changes in the structure and evaluation process in the banks in a manner that would ensure meritocracy and transparency but not to establish arbitrariness.
Hellenic Bank has so far showed no signs of backing down and accepting the union’s demand for a 3.8 per cent pay rise across the board.
Hellenic said it will grant a 2 per cent rise in October, to include the first 10 months of this year, and is ready to discuss renewal of the collective agreement but on a new basis.
Hellenic has said it was prepared to grant additional pay rises to staff but they will be related to performance and the going market rate.
It said the pay rise it was granting unilaterally, was higher than the ones demanded by the union.
The new system it wants to put in place provided for a 2 per cent across-the-board raise and an average 2.4 per cent performance-based raise, in line with market rates.
Concerning the former co-op staff, which Hellenic took up as part of its acquisition, the management proposed a minimum salary of €1,300.
