Around 70% of Novobanco workers signed a petition dissatisfied with not being financially recognized during the sale to BPCE, the workers’ committee said today, which admits new protest actions.
Novobanco’s National Workers’ Commission (CNT) demands “two salaries for all workers as a minimum form of recognition for their effort, dedication and fundamental role in the recovery and appreciation of the bank”.
In a statement, the workers’ committee states that it delivered more than 2,700 signatures to Novobanco’s management on Monday “with the firm conviction that this demonstration of unity and strength should lead to a reassessment of the decision taken”.
In the document, the CNT points out that “the significant number” of signatures shows that workers are not satisfied with what they say is “one of the greatest injustices in memory: the awarding of millionaire prizes to top management and some coordinating directors, while the overwhelming majority of workers are excluded from any form of financial recognition”.
The workers’ representative body says that it awaits a positive response from the administration and that, if this does not happen, it will admit, in conjunction with workers and unions, new protest actions.
Novobanco was created in 2014 to retain part of BES’s banking activity (in its resolution) held by the banking Resolution Fund (public entity).
Novobanco’s shareholders (Lone Star with 75%, the General Directorate of Treasury and Finance with 11.46% and the Resolution Fund with 13.54%) agreed to sell it in June to the French group BPCE for 6,400 million euros. There are still several steps left for the deal to be completed.
In September, the news from Público was controversial that Lone Star directors and Novobanco managers should receive bonuses amounting to 1,100 million euros paid by the Lone Star shareholder in connection with the successful sale of Novobanco.