…as Bankers Chairman resigns
The island’s banks have offered to renew the collective labour agreement for the next three years with a 2% pay increase, similar to the collective labour deal reached earlier by the government and the civil servants union. The bank employees union, ETYK is now expected to consider the offer and put it to its members to vote, a process that may take several weeks to complete.
Vassilis Rologis, Chairman of Bank of Cyprus welcomed the deal reached between the Bankers Association and the union, describing it as balanced and noting that for the first time there was no need for the mediation services of the Ministry of Labour to narrow the differences.
“It is basically in the same spirit of agreement as the collective renewal deal reached between the government and the civil servants union, PASYDY,” said Rologis.
He was referring to the three-year collective deal under which civil servants agreed to a 2% pay hike over 3 years. The preliminary deal between Cyprus’ eight Banks and the Bank Employees Trade Union (ETYK) regarding the Collective Agreement for 2005-2007 provides for: a 0.6% wage increases for 2005, 0.7% for 2006 and 0.7% for 2007 and maintaining the COLA wage adjustments.
Rologis said the deal with ETYK will also include a clause allowing banks to proceed with more out sourcing deals and extend the customer banking hours at the branches until 1.30pm. The deal will also allow banks to change the pay scale of new hiring and demand from their employees to undergo training.
“The ultimate objective is to boost productivity, which is very low compared to European standards, and by limiting the staff cost increases, also help narrow the staff provident fund liabilities that in turn will help rating agencies such as Moody’s to improve their rating on Cypriot banks,” said Rologis.
In the meantime, the Chairman of the Bankers Association, Michalakis Erotocritou resigned in protest as Chairman of the Association, over a dispute in the way BOC entered into a pact with ETYK.
BOC officials attempted to calm the situation, saying that BOC CEO Andreas Eliades who negotiated the final pact with ETYK had been appointed as the representative of the four major banks (BOC, CPB, HB and Alpha) and he did not deviate from the spirit of what the banks wanted. They said the differences cited by Erotocritou were not fundamental.
Erotocritou on his part, said he resigned because he had been appointed to head the 4-member bank committee and while negotiations were at an advanced stage with ETYK and were continuing, BOC reached a deal with ETYK. He charged that BOC circles claimed that Laiki was against the deal, something which was not true, Erotocritou claimed.
