Nordea uppmanas respektera fackliga rättigheter

Under UNI-Finans kongress i Antalya 22-23 oktober antogs ett uttalande som uppmanade Nordea att respektera fackliga rättigheter. Bakgrunden är att Estonian Labour Dispute Committee har konstaterat att Nordea i Estland diskriminerat en fackligt förtroendevald och kraftigt försvårat dennes möjligheter att utöva sitt fackliga uppdrag.

Finansförbundet anser att det är djupt oroväckande att Nordea i Estland kränkt grundläggande fackliga rättigheter. Det står i stark kontrast till den historiska tradition av samarbete som funnits mellan fack och arbetsgivare inom Nordea. Finansförbundet uppmanar därför Nordeas ledning att säkerställa att grundläggande fackliga och mänskliga rättigheter respekteras på alla arbetsplatser inom koncernen.

UNI-Finans gemensamma uttalande publiceras i sin helhet här nedan:

Nordea must respect trade union rights in the financial sectors

Statement from the UNI Finance Conference in Antalya, Turkey, 22 October 2015 Across the world’s financial sectors, trade unions and their representatives contribute to socially sustainable business. Workers’ right to organise and bargain collectively is a cornerstone for building responsible financial services. At the same time, finance is one of the most powerful business forces on the planet. It is essential that companies in the financial sectors respect trade union rights and social dialogue. Recent events in Nordea Estonia are worrying in this regard.

UNI Finance has received information about unfortunate incidents relating to the cooperation between the union representative and management in Nordea in Estonia. The rights of the local union trustee have not been respected, as confirmed by the Estonian Labour Dispute Committee on October 13, 2015. UNI Finance strongly condemns this behaviour and demands that Nordea respects Estonian law and international conventions that the bank has signed, such as the ILO conventions on workers’ rights and the UN Global Compact.

Nordea is one of the most valuable European financial institutions, and trade unions and their representatives have been essential in creating this value. Therefore, Nordea management should know that strong unions contribute to creating a prosperous and trustworthy business. Dialogue and cooperation with strong unions and their representatives provide for concluding collective agreements and commitment to business strategies that benefit employees, customers and owners alike.

As such, Nordic traditions for dialogue and cooperation with trade unions have been instrumental in building trust and credibility in Nordea. Acting in an opposite way in other markets and countries threatens trust and union relations in the whole of the bank and undermines thereby Nordea’s long term value creation.

Finance workers has a right to organise and negotiate free from fear of retaliation, prosecution and other negative consequences. Nordea has a chance to act in support of this and make things right in Estonia. The global finance union movement is watching: UNI Finance expects Nordea to continue its long-standing tradition of cooperation with the trade unions, thereby contributing to responsible financial services in Estonia and all other places where the bank operates.