| Strike on at HSBC after talks fall through. |
|
|
Talks to resolve the pay dispute at HSBC have fallen through and bank employees will go out on strike this Friday. This strike will be the first one in the banking sector in more than eight years.
The strike seems a distinct possibility after talks between negotiators from the union Amicus and the bank failed. These talks were brokered by the industrial dispute reconciliation body ACAS.
Even after five days of hectic negotiations, there was no significant breakthrough in the talks and the HSBC staff belonging to the Amicus trade union voted to go on a strike. Rob O'Neill, national officer at Amicus was quite categorical when he said, "I am afraid that we have nowhere else to go with this dispute. The fact is that 10% of staff will receive no pay rise at all this year and 45% will only get a rise of less than inflation."
The HSBC issued a statement saying that it had put forth a "series of proposals" for the 2006 pay package where it had ensured that those who did not get a raise in 2005 would be compensated, "The union rejected everything HSBC offered. This follows four months during which the union has failed to change a single element of its position while HSBC increased its 2005 total award, addressed pay allocation and made changes to pay bands," the statement added.
The bank laid the blame for the failure of talks at the unions' doors. HSBC says that the union was not prepared to listen to anything at all. The industrial action on Friday is due to a 2005 pay award at the bank that gave 55% of HSBC workers no pay rise. Friday's scheduled action could affect an estimated 1,600 branches.
Posted
on : Tue, 24 May 2005 10:25 GMT | Banking News
By : Anne Philips
|
| |
| Related |
|
|
|
