Czech Union of Workers in Finance and Insurance Declare Strike Alert

Czech banking unions have declared strike alert in the financial sector to support wage demands, the Union of Workers in Finance and Insurance said on Monday.

 

“The union…has for some time been trying to negotiate with bank and insurance firms’ management for decent wage conditions and to eliminate extreme fluctuation that has been going on due to overloading employees,” it said.

 

“These conditions are in sharp opposition to growing profits these companies show at the expense of employees,” it said, adding it would discuss the action at a news conference on Nov. 15.

 

The union has about 8,000 members in the financial sector that employs tens of thousands.

 

A fast-growing Czech economy has helped pushed unemployment to the lowest in the EU and propelled wages to their fastest gains in a decade, or 7.6 percent year-on-year in nominal terms in the second quarter.

 

Higher pay has also added to costs for banks, which have had to contend with record low interest rates and growing loan competition in recent years.

 

Source: Reuters