On 19 December 2019, the Italian bank social partners (UNI affiliates FABI, FIRST-CISL, FISAC-CGIL, UILCA and UNISIN, together with the Italian Banking Employers Association ABI) renewed their collective agreement for the sector, valid to the end of 2022.
The new agreement represents a big victory for the 282,000 bank workers across the country, many of whom suffered a decrease in rights, protections and working conditions over the past decade from a financial crisis they did not create.
Key trade union victories include:
- a pay increase of 190 EUR;
- the creation of a bipartite special committee to monitor and analyse the impact of digitalisation and new technologies on bank sector jobs and establish joint solutions;
- greater protections for bank workers unlawfully dismissed;
- equal opportunity guarantees and more rights for part-time workers and for those on maternity, paternity and adoption leave;
- new measures to protect bank workers selling financial products and the right for trade unions to receive the bank’s sales policy;
- guidelines for smart working, including on health and safety, privacy and access to training;
- and a stronger commitment to healthy workplaces and to respecting work/life balance, including the right to disconnect.
