In March 2023, the financial and insurance activities sector employed 53,670 people in the country, according to Luxembourg’s national statistics bureau Statec. These are all people potentially affected by the current discussions on collective agreements in the financial sector, which expired at the end of last year. The three unions--Aleba, OGBL and LCGB--had announced their intention to form a “common front” on this issue last November. On Thursday 25 April, they gave an update on the progress of discussions in a press release issued in the morning. The unions were not satisfied with the latest discussions with representatives of the financial sector.
The three unions stated: “The current discussions are not aimed at substantially improving the old collective agreements. The ABBL and the Aca (according to their catalogues of demands) would rather deteriorate the previous agreements than use them as a basis for negotiating quantitative and qualitative improvements. We see this as a dangerous step backwards for employees in the banking and insurance sector, at a time when the ABBL, through its new chairman, for the 2023 financial year.” The ABBL refers to the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association and Aca is the Luxembourg Insurance and Reinsurance Association.
The demands shared by the three labour organisations include the inclusion of professional and managerial staff in collective agreements, substantial pay rises for all, investment in training, adjustments to extraordinary leave, the implementation of preventive measures to alleviate health and psychosocial risks, and teleworking.
“We are fighting to preserve and secure jobs, improve access to training, guarantee better and fairer pay for all in a sector that is vital to the Luxembourg economy, improve working conditions and promote (encourage) work-life balance by reducing the abusive use of overtime, which is a real scourge in the sector,” said the union statement.
In the afternoon, the ABBL in turn issued a press release outlining its position. “We see the collective agreement as a foundation that provides stability, security and predictability and allows all stakeholders to work with added peace of mind. But such an agreement must also be adapted at regular intervals to take account of the surrounding context and future challenges”, stated CEO .
The ABBL press release said that “the aim is to maintain a high-quality working environment while promoting a more flexible organisation of working time, enabling banks to adapt effectively to the changing needs of their staff.” In particular, the new agreement should “enable banks to remunerate their employees in line with their development and their contribution to the collective success, while encouraging investment in the transformation of managerial cultures to take better account of the aspirations of the new generation.”
Asked on Thursday about the next steps in this process, the unions said: “The next steps are for the inter-union [working group] to continue to negotiate with ABBL-Aca on the various issues of the collective agreement, in order to reach what we hope will be a good outcome for employees in the sector. This is proving difficult at present. An end to negotiations is not in sight at the moment, as many issues have not yet been discussed.”
Originally published in French by and translated for Delano