Italian banks reopen the redundancy chapter. With 12 institutes under extraordinary administration and strong pressure to strengthen capital, as well as one of the highest labor costs, according to Abi's statements, the sector finds itself having to manage "surplus employees" (as stated in the letter of cancellation of the collective bargaining agreement of the banking association) and certainly the problem of "employment in the context of the renewal of the contract".
In agreement with the union, the sector has always encouraged voluntary exit, with access to the solidarity fund. From 2000 to today, 48 people have been voluntarily retired early. Between now and 2020, another 19.800 will come out, according to an estimate by Fabi. This means that in 20 years voluntary credit outflows will be 67.800. By 2013, however, the pool of those who could retire or retire early is almost exhausted.
“Certainly the scenario will present an employment bill that puts the avoidance of layoffs at the center of trade union action. For this we need to regain the contract through the strike and jointly agree on the fund”, explained Agostino Megale, general secretary of Fisac CGIL.
The general secretary of Fiba Cisl, Giulio Romani, underlined that “the cost-income ratio is equal to 32% in Italy, against a European average of 37%. It is clear that the cost of labor affects the bank, but we are in line, downwards, with our competitors in France and Germany. The reconstruction that wants to attribute the problem to the cost of labor is wrong ".
The unions that in the last group agreements have proposed and obtained the practice of exchanging exits with income and stabilizations of young people are on a war footing, above all after the cancellation of the collective bargaining agreement. In terms of employment, in fact, it must be noted that thousands of young people have entered the bank in recent years. More, however, as a result of the exchange between companies and trade unions in agreements on industrial plans. What is certain is that "not even 50% of the exits in recent years have been compensated by new entries," explained Romani.
The plans implemented by the large banking groups have been important: Unicredit, in Italy between 2007 and 2014, favored the early retirement of 11.900 people (200 are due to leave in 2014). But around 2010 have been hired since 3.000. The latest agreement provides that in the space of 18 months – from May 2013 – there will be 500. Between 2007 and 2013 Intesa Sanpaolo saw 24 people leave, again voluntarily. And 12 enter, almost all young people. Of these 12.000, 4.800 were hired under apprenticeship contracts. The apprentice confirmation rate was 99,7%, a figure above the average.
