Banking contracts: the tax on banks’ windfall profits makes a sudden appearance at the ABI negotiating table

The tax on banks’ windfall profits has become a key issue at the ABI negotiating table, where the association’s Trade Union and Labour Affairs Committee, led by Ilaria Maria Dalla Riva, and the trade unions (Fabi, First, Fisac, Uilca and Unisin) are discussing the renewal of the collective agreement covering over 260,000 bank workers, which expired last March. Fabi’s general secretary, Lando Maria Sileoni, speaks of initial signs of flexibility, but the progress of the negotiations is weighed down by significant uncertainty on at least two fronts: the first is the budget bill, which could deprive the banks of substantial resources; the second is extraordinary transactions. In the absence of a clear framework, it seems unlikely that the negotiations will get off the ground.

According to Sileoni, ‘in order to finalise the renewal of the national collective agreement, the ABI’s CASL must take on the task of addressing and resolving all outstanding issues’.

It must certainly be said that, in order to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the platform – including, therefore, the financial aspect, in respect of which the trade unions are calling for a pay rise of 518 euros once fully implemented for the average reference level – it is necessary to have a full understanding of all the contextual factors relating to the credit sector, for obvious reasons of maintaining an overall perspective. ABI’s CASL is continuing to examine all aspects of the platform in depth. Discussions will proceed at a brisk pace, with the next meeting already scheduled for 19 November. ‘The timing of the conclusion of the national collective agreement is important,’ Sileoni points out, ‘but what matters most is how we reach the signing stage and what results we manage to achieve for bank workers.’

A number of issues were discussed during the meeting. The main item on the agenda was the Employment Fund, which is financed by workers and banks and was set up to encourage the recruitment of young people: since its inception, it has helped over 40,000 young people to join the banking sector. Regarding the FOC, Sileoni made it clear that the trade unions are not prepared ‘to distort an instrument designed to support employment by shifting costs onto the Fund that should be borne by the banking groups. We are, however, prepared to discuss a broader protocol for employment, as part of a comprehensive and jointly agreed plan. We must therefore thoroughly examine all the ABI’s proposals in order to assess all the issues comprehensively’.

As for the other issues, regarding extraordinary measures, Riccardo Colombani, head of First Cisl, emphasised that ‘we must not forget that just under 200,000 bank employees will be affected by the restructuring and reorganisation of the banking sector: it is only right to provide them with answers promptly and to remove any uncertainty. We therefore expect matters to be fast-tracked from the next meeting, scheduled for 19 November. At that meeting, CASL undertook to discuss the Employment Protocol, a step forward whose content needs to be assessed, given the need to manage the transformations the sector is undergoing and to regulate the use of new technologies’. On the windfall tax, Colombani adds that ‘from the end of 2022 to the present day, there has been a stark divergence in benefits between shareholders and workers, to the sole advantage of the former, who pocket the lion’s share of operating profits. ABI justifies its delay by citing the government’s introduction of a new levy on banks in the Budget Act. This shows a lack of respect for the workers who have been instrumental in achieving the record results of recent years, all the more so now that inflation is rising again and eroding the purchasing power of wages’.