CaixaBank announces a restructuring plan with 3,000 job losses in Spain

Barcelona (ACN).- On Monday, the Barcelona-based bank, CaixaBank, disclosed their plan  to lay off 3,000 workers in order “to adapt to the current context” and “improve the efficiency” of its resources. According to the Catalan financial entity, which leads the Spanish retail banking market, the reform is “necessary” after having taken over Banca Cívica’s network and as they are about to absord Banc de València’s. CaixaBank has engaged in formal talks with the unions, which could be on-going until late April. The objective is to negotiate the exact measures to adjust the staff numbers to the business volume. CaixaBank has emphasised that they have a “negotiating disposition” and they are willing to engage in “open and continuous” talks with the workers’ representatives. The unions think that 3,000 people being made redundant is “excessive”, taking into account the Barcelona-based bank’s solvency confirmed through last summer’s stress tests.

On Monday, the first meeting between the unions and CaixaBank took place, to start exploring the possibilities and the requirements for the restructuring process. This first meeting is part of the preliminary talks, before the formal negotiation process kicks off, as established in the collective bargaining agreement before a mass lay-off.

The Workers Commissions union (CCOO) criticised CaixaBank’s restructuring. According to CCOO, the Catalan bank is an entity that has not had any intervention or been nationalised, as it passed all the solvency and stress tests imposed on the Spanish banking sector without any problem. Therefore, the union  thinks that the figure of 3,000 employees to be made redundant is “excessive”.

Furthermore, CCOO underlined that CaixaBank is already making an important effort regarding salaries, since the 2011 collective bargaining agreement, which is combined with “severe tensions over certain working centres and long hours”. CCOO warned that if CaixaBank does not modify its plans, there will be “a serious conflict”. The union hopes the bank will put non-traumatic measures in place, for example encouraging volunteer retirement.