Bank staff contract: renewal negotiations between Opas and the government have been at a standstill for months

Whilst it is true that the employer has always been fairly prompt in renewing the contract and has, in any case, guaranteed the real value of salaries – as shown by the pay scales – this round of negotiations for ABI bank employees is proceeding from one exploratory meeting to the next. The contract expired last March, and, at present, it seems difficult to envisage the swift conclusion hoped for by the trade unions. All the more so as there is also no endorsement from a banker – for the last renewal, it was the CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo, Carlo Messina – to take the first step – on the increase of 518 euros per month once fully implemented, as requested by Fabi, First, Fisac, Uilca and Unisin, which would enable the 260,000 workers to recoup a good 15 per cent, covering both inflation and productivity gains. The backdrop is a complex national and international landscape, with banks playing a leading role in major consolidation processes across Europe and in Italia – a factor the parties at the negotiating table cannot ignore. In this highly uncertain context, on the one hand the trade unions are demanding pay rises, given the banks’ profits and workers’ productivity, whilst on the other hand there has been no move from the employers’ side to meet them halfway. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday 19 November: the items on the agenda are expected to be training and artificial intelligence, but these will not be the only topics to be discussed throughout the day, as the five unions at the negotiating table are demanding answers, particularly on economic issues.

Answers that are unlikely to be forthcoming any time soon. There are various reasons for the deadlock in the negotiations. Part of the problem lies in the extraordinary transactions: this renewal comes right in the middle of the Intesa Sanpaolo’s takeover bid for MPS, which will lead to a reorganisation within Unipol/Bper, as well as the friendly merger offer from Credit Agricole on Banco BPM, through which the French bank would increase its stake to 45 per cent of the new conglomerate. Added to this is the tax on banks’ windfall profits, which has burst onto the negotiating table ABI. Bankers have criticised the Government’s approach to the budget and the measures affecting banks, given previous agreements. The package of measures envisaged by the Government would entail a further levy of around 7 billion euros for the three-year period 2027–2029; adding this figure to that of previous budgets, the total outlay for credit institutions would rise to 22 billion euros. The ABI itself has raised constitutional concerns regarding the proposal for a new levy that would selectively target only certain sectors, namely banks and insurance companies.

At recent meetings, Abi and the trade unions have discussed contractual welfare provisions and the Employment Fund, regarding which there is a strong call to safeguard the objectives – namely the recruitment of young people and generational renewal – whilst ensuring that resources are not diverted to other areas. Meanwhile, discussions within the Steering Group regarding the questionnaire on well-being at work are proceeding in parallel and are still ongoing: only a draft of the questionnaire – which is to be submitted to employees and drawn up in collaboration with third-party academic bodies – has been finalised, and this will be discussed at forthcoming meetings.

The issue of pay rises is still a long way off; the Trade Union and Labour Affairs Committee (CASL) explained to the trade unions at its last meeting that it was unable to provide answers at present because a comprehensive assessment of the platform – including, therefore, the economic aspects – requires a full understanding of all the contextual factors affecting the credit sector, for obvious reasons of maintaining an overall perspective and ensuring economic sustainability. ABI’s CASL is continuing to examine all aspects of the proposal in depth, but there is still not enough certainty to secure the mandate needed to make any significant progress on the renewal. The trade unions, however, are unwilling to accept the argument about the broader context, except in part. Profits are being made; workers have played their part in generating value, and this must be recognised. The general secretary of Fabi, Lando Maria Sileoni, in one of the most recent meetings, laid out a series of key figures: between 2022 and 2025, bank profits rose by 72 per cent, whilst labour costs rose by 7 per cent.

Each bank employee generates an average of 430,000 euros in revenue per year, compared with an average labour cost of 77,000 euros. This means that, according to Fabi’s figures, generates value amounting to 5.5 times their respective cost to the bank. Certainly, even in light of these figures, initiatives such as a new levy on banks are not helpful, and on this point Sileoni himself has emphasised that ‘the Government must pause and assess the consequences of a further increase in taxation. Raising funds from the sector may be a politically easy choice, but it risks complicating the renewal of the banking sector’s collective agreement and also affecting the negotiations with the BCCs, which, whilst autonomous, are inevitably influenced by the climate in the sector’. If the negotiations do not progress, the risk – as highlighted by the trade unions – is that industrial action will spread to the banking groups just as they are due to implement the supplementary payments. On 19 November, perhaps, the way forward will become clearer.