Budget sickness, new allegations of commercial pressure on sales networks
Bper, Findomestic and the Abruzzo area of Intesa Sanpaolo, the institutions that came under the lens. The position of the banking unions
"Nothing has changed. On the contrary, the situation has worsened in some cases'. This was the lapidary comment of Lando Sileoni, national secretary of the Fabi banking union, at the recent hearing before the parliamentary committee of enquiry on the banking system on the subject of commercial pressure. A practice that continues, as shown by the frequent communiqués of the unions.
The Bper case
'Deterioration of the working climate': this is what was pointed out in the joint trade union communiqué at the end of September at the meeting with the company of the representatives of the commercial policy committee. The theme is always the same: excessive pressure. "In the March-September period alone, 196 reports were recorded,' the document emphasises. 'This number, as the company itself admits, is higher than the number of reports received by other banks, but for us it is only the tip of the iceberg. The reports (Bper had 19,144 employees at the end of September, without Popolare Sondrio) to the commission are fundamental, the unions explain, 'to bring out the unease'.
On the table in the discussion, among others, was the pressure to sell policies: 'The company made it clear that it is careful to comply with all the rules on the sale of insurance products in conjunction with the granting of loans, and that the maximum transparency on the matter is demonstrated by the publication of the guidelines on the bank's website,' reads the statement. 'We argued that the reality is quite different, that very often illegitimate pressures are put on colleagues to encourage them to act in a manner that does not comply with the regulations, and that these situations occur regularly throughout Italy.
The workers' representatives also stigmatise the "budget targets that grow exponentially every year, responding more to the desire for indefinite growth in profits than to the realities of the various territories, contributing decisively to aggravating the amount and level of commercial pressure".
The consequence of all this? 'We believe that work-related stress should be considered to all intents and purposes a risk factor for the occurrence of occupational diseases'.
