The UGT banking unions believe that the Government must drop the labor package after what they say was the strong support for this Thursday’s general strike, including the closure of “many bank branches”.
“The workers gave the response that the situation demands. The executive has no alternative but to abandon its draft labor legislation”, said Mais Sindicato, SBN and SBC in a statement.
For banking unions, labor reform “means precariousness masquerading as freedom” and “weakens workers and, conversely, gives all power to bosses.”
Mais Sindicato, SBN and SBC accuse the executive’s proposal of lowering the cost of work, weakening the demanding power of workers and unions, destabilizing parental equality, weakening collective bargaining and unbalancing labor legislation in favor of employers.
Regarding membership in the sector, the unions say that bank employees are “traditionally very reluctant to go on strike”, but that this time they “responded positively, joining this strike” due to the seriousness of the labor changes, which resulted in “many branches closed and others open, but with the suppression of services due to the workers on strike and, also, many services being very restricted”.
The number of branches closed on Thursday is not indicated.
Finally, the UGT banking unions consider that the strike is not the “end of the line”, but a “pressure force for change”, considering that negotiation continues to make perfect sense “in defense of workers’ rights”.
The general strike was called by the CGTP-IN and UGT unions, against changes to labor legislation defended by the Government.
While the Government placed participation in the strike at between 0 and 10%, the unions spoke of participation exceeding 80%.