Bank unions’ big demands ahead of contract discussions

BANK employees union ETYK has come up with 35 demands for the renewal of their collective agreements.

Employees held a meeting with the bank employers union KEST, which submitted five demands of its own, during the week to exchange views.

The trade union didn’t specify the exact salary increases it was pursuing, but it did request a steady annual pay rise.

Among there demands is a reduction of their work schedule to 35 hours a week by cancelling their obligation to work Monday afternoons.

ETYK is also seeking the payment of 14th salaries, while it repeated its request for an employee to be placed in banks’ Board of Directors.

The demands, among others, include:

l An annual two-day increase in paid leave
l Bank holidays that coincide with weekends to be transferred
l Offer employees the choice of requesting leave instead of pay for working overtime
l An adoption by all banks of creating a pension plan for their employees, like that of the Bank of Cyprus
l An improvement of the retirement bonus
l Recognition of military service
l An increase in paid maternity leave to five months
l Extending medical coverage to the age of 65.

Among the employers’ suggestions was for banks to open on Saturdays to offer a better service to the public.

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