Laurent Mertz, secretary general of Aleba, wants speedy negotiations on salary increases Anthony Dehez

Laurent Mertz, secretary general of Aleba, wants speedy negotiations on salary increases Anthony Dehez

The negotiations have been dragging for a year now, and no end seems in sight.

At a press conference on Thursday 18 January,public radio 100,7 reported that Aleba general secretary Laurent Mertz demanded a linear salary increase of 2% for 2018 and of 1.5% for the following two years.

He added that trade unions OGBL and LCGB fully supported these claims.

Meanwhile, the ABBL (the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association) has indicated that they were not in favour of an automatic increase of salaries.

Mertz mentioned that they had already made concessions during the 2016 collective agreement, but would not do so again. This agreement lapsed at the end of 2016, but was extended by a year during 2017 because negotiations stalled. Aleba questioned whether this stalling was actually the ABBL’s strategy.
Mertz indicated however a willingness to compromise and set the date of 31 March 2018 to see progress. If there wasn’t, he suggested conciliation as a possible next step.