By Brennan Stark, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Banks across Brazil are on strike after the union representing bank workers rejected the National Federation of Banks’ (Fenaban’s) offer of an eight percent salary increase on Monday, well below the 12.8 percent raise that had been requested earlier. The indefinite strike and shutdown will include both public and private banks.
The nationwide strike began on Tuesday in an effort to pressure Fenaban to resume negotiations and meet the Brazilian banking union Contraf-CUT’s demands. The decision to strike was made just hours earlier by the Workers’ Bank of São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasília and Porto Alegre, among many others.
In addition to not meeting the requested pay raise, Fenaban has done nothing to improve working conditions or ensure equal opportunity, claims Contraf-CUT President Charles Cordeiro. “With revenues over $27.4 billion achieved in the first semester of this year, banks are able to meet all the demands…and contribute to the development of the country” he argued.
Feneban issued a statement calling the strikes “pointless” and “misplaced.” It claimed that all bankers’ wages were adjusted properly and workers had been given proper benefits and participation in profit sharing. The statement also reminded bank customers that “alternative[s] can be used at any time, such as internet, telephone and self-service terminals and related.”
Read more (in Portuguese).
*The Rio Times Daily Update is a new feature we are offering to help keep you up-to-date with the major news as it happens.