On Thursday, BNP Paribas Fortis will be stopped, for the first time in more than twenty years. With the promotion, the trade unions want to express their displeasure about the plans of the Grootbank to transfer almost 600 employees of the ‘Client Service Center’ to technology partner Accenture.
ACV Puls-CNE, BBTK-SETCA and ACLVB-CGSLB have called on all the staff of the bank to participate in the promotion. They point out that this is not only about the staff members involved, but about everyone’s job security. “If we allow this, what is the next step? Who is the next to be outsourced,” it sounds.
Especially the refusal of the management to make concessions put bad blood in the trade unions.
On Thursday, action will be made at the headquarters of the bank on the Warandeberg in Brussels, but also to the regional seats in Antwerp, Ghent, Leuven, Liège and Charleroi.
Strike “well followed up”: all bank offices open
The strike at BNP Paribas Fortis is “well followed up” at the staff, says trade union BBTK. More than 1,000 employees of the bank would participate. The management notes that more than 90 percent of employees do not participate.
The strike is mainly focused on customer service, where the employees involved work. They are in offices in Brussels, Antwerp, Leuven, Ghent, Liège and Charleroi. According to ACLVB trade unionist Ivan van Damme, the management obliged the management to work out of home.
The management says that more than 90 percent of employees do not participate in the strike. “People are afraid of outer as a striker,” says Van Damme.
BNP Paribas Fortis says it does everything to limit an impact on customers. “All offices are operational. If customers were to be hindered by the actions, we apologize.”
The bank says it understands that change raises questions, but regrets the strike. “We have had intensive contact with the social partners in recent months and made concrete agreements about the following steps last week.” The bank wants to answer the questions of the employees involved before the summer.