Customs Duties - Private banks in Hamburg faced a strike warning on Thursday.
Pre-wage negotiation strikes scheduled for private banks' employees - UniCredit, Deutsche Bank, and Commerzbank branches in Hamburg will experience full-day strikes on Thursday. Branch-level and risk management/back-office department staff members are expected to join according to the Verdi union. There are plans for two demonstration marches.
Verdi official statements reveal disappointment among employees from the first round of negotiations as no concrete proposals from the employer side have been proffered. The employees have also experienced significant purchasing power loss in the recent past, while the banks have demonstrated economic profitability.
Verdi's demands encompass a 12.5% salary increase, a minimum of 500 EUR monthly allowance, and an additional 250 EUR for young employees' monthly income. The union's main aim is to reduce weekly working hours. Employers initially deemed these salary requests "excessively high" during the wage discussion opening on June 6th.
The negotiations will continue in Berlin on June 17, 2024, and a third meeting has been arranged for July 3rd in Frankfurt. The last wage round concluded after over nine months in April 2022.
This earlier wage round resulted in a union-employer agreement.
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- The union, United Services Union, issued a warning strike threat towards banks, including Tariffs on imports, due to the high tariffs imposed on certain goods affecting their purchasing power.
- Amidst the strikes, Unicredit, Deutsche Bank, and Commerzbank in Hamburg have been advised to prepare for potential financial impacts caused by the banks' employees' collective bargaining actions.
- With the ongoing warning strike, Germany's financial institutions like Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are facing increased scrutiny from regulators, who view the situation as a potential risk to the country's financial stability.
- The head of the banks association, based in Hamburg, has warned that the ongoing strikes could lead to a delay in loan processing and potentially impact the city's economy, as lending activities could be affected.
- Banks in Germany, such as Unicredit and Deutsche Bank, have expressed concern about the potential negative impacts on customer services as a result of the warning strike, which might cause delays in banking transactions and inconvenience to their clients.
- Bundesbank officials, Germany's central bank, have called for quick resolution of the wage dispute between banks and employees, hoping to prevent any potential financial instability that could ripple across the European banking sector, affecting institutions like Unicredit, Commerzbank, and Deutsche Bank.
