The Bahamas Financial Services Union (BFSU) said it is prepared to call for a strike vote at FirstCaribbean.
“We are quite prepared if we do not get a satisfactory answer to ask labour to take a strike vote within the bank,” Lashon Sawyer, general secretary of the BFSU said Wednesday. “We will pull our people off the job and withhold our labour. That is how far we think this has gone.”
The union would like to see a harmonisation of all benefits under the merger of CIBC and Barclays and is concerned with numerous employee benefits the bank has refused to address, Ms Sawyer said.
“Barclays employees enjoyed a better world with benefits and policies.”
According to Ms Sawyer the benefits that became the norm for Barclays employees are being taken away.
On “the Barclays side of the merger employees are not receiving the better of both worlds.”
Ms Sawyer said she did not want the public to think all the employees are concerned about is better benefits for themselves while customers still have to pay the high interest rates.
“Wherever you work you get benefits because you are an employee. The employment act says equal work for equal pay.”
The union said a majot issue is contract workers getrting permanent positions.
“Our biggest concern is the confirmation of contractual workers when they are about to redeployed employees who are permanent and full time.”
The union is scheduled to have a meeting with the Department of Labour on Sept. 9. The bank has agreed to provide answers by this time. The union said if it does not receive satisfactory answers then they might strike.
“We do not have the big millions this bank has,”Ms Sawyer said. “We have to take what we have at hand which is withholding our labour.”
The union said it understands the bank is going through a merger and there will be resulting job losses but would like the bank to tell the union how many people are going to be out of a job.
The union feels that the bank is withholding informationk.
The union said other countries involved in the merger are also experiencing problems.
“Each individual territory has some area they have a concern with, in particular benefits and policies. The Bahamas and Jamaica are experiencing similar problems.”
By Martella Matthews, The Nassau Guardian
