The National Union of Bank Employees (NUBE) today urged Bank Negara to reconsider its decision to approve the closing down of bank branches and the practice of offering voluntary separation scheme (VSS) to employees.

The trend puts some workers at a disadvantage as they may find themselves unemployed prior to their retirement, NUBE general-secretary J Solomon said today.

He was responding to Bank Negara governor Dr Zeti Akhtar Azizs statement in the central banks annual report released March 20, which said about 1,500 bank staff may be released through the VSS. The figure may reach 6,000 this year.

This has certainly opened the floodgates for VSS in the banking industry.

Some banks have even breached the code of conduct for industrial harmony which calls for joint consultation between employers, trade union and the (Human Resources) ministry when it comes to redundancy and retrenchment, he said in a statement today.

Forgotten contribution

Solomon accused the banks of discarding employees who had contributed to the banks millions and billions in profit over the years through the VSS.

All their contributions are just forgotten.

He lamented the unwillingness of banks to consult with the union on such matters and said such an attitude hampers the unions effectiveness in playing its role in the banking industry.

He also accused Standard Chartered Bank (M) Bhd of unfair labour practice for informing the NUBE about the VSS offer three days before sending out the letters.

The bank had also rejected the unions request for more time to review the offer.

The banks target is 150 to 200 staff but the VSS would have been offered to more than that, said Solomon, adding that Standard Chartered Bank was also asked to justify the VSS.

Options

Among others, the NUBE had requested the bank to:

  • reduce the number of contract and temporary employees before embarking on VSS;
  • give employees the option of personally seeing the bank representative instead of being compelled; and
  • give those taking the VSS temporary jobs should they accept the offer

    • In The Star (March 29), Arab-Malaysian Finance Bhd (AMFB) chairperson Azman Hashim was quoted after the companys extraordinary general meeting as saying more than 60 branches may be closed following its merger with MBf Finance Bhd.

    AMFB plans to trim its operations from 255 to 191 branches to weed out overlapping in certain areas. As many as 1,000 employees may lose their jobs as a result.

    However, the merger between Bank Utama Malaysia Bhd and RHB Bank Bhd will not see any VSS being offered.

    Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, deputy chairperson of Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd which owns Utama Banking Group, has given his reassurance that there would be no layoffs. Bank Utama has 1,000 employees and RHB Bank, 5,000 employees.