Central Bank blow to union plan for action

BANK employees’ union ETYK yesterday suffered a setback in its planned sanctions against the National Bank of Greece, after the Central Bank said it was under obligation to clear transactions with all financial institutions.

The union has announced that as of Monday, and for an indefinite period of time, commercial banks will not process any accounts held with NBG or cheques issued by that bank.
Moreover, employees at all banks – except NBG – are to stage a two-hour work stoppage (from 12.30pm to 2.30pm) on Wednesday.

It is the latest move from ETYK in its ongoing dispute with NBG over the seconding of two employees from the bank’s Athens headquarters to its Cyprus branch.

But the Central Bank said yesterday it could not discriminate against individual banks, and said that any transactions that are under its scope would be cleared.

Governor Athanasios Orphanides yesterday ordered all Central Bank employees to go about their business as usual for any accounting, cash or cheque transactions relating to NBG.

He said it was Central Bank’s duty to ensure the smooth operation of the banking sector, and that entailed the unimpeded access to services for all commercial banks.

In a circular issued to Central Bank employees, Orphanides said:
“The Central Bank would like to make it clear that it respects and fully supports the right of bank employees, including its own employees, to associate and strike.

“In this case, however, the Central Bank is not in confrontation with its own staff or with ETYK. It quite simply considers that the selective provision of services to its customers does not constitute a strike measure that infringes on labour agreements.”