Bank union plans protest

Nearly employees of Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) and their families are expected to take to the streets today to protest the government's plan to sell its stake in the firm.

The government currently controls a 44-percent stake in the bank, which mainly grants loans to small and medium-sized enterprises.

The march, scheduled to start at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, will proceed to the Ministry of Finance building, where a letter accusing the government of a disregard of employees' rights and interests will be presented to ministry officials.

"When about 2,400 people, or a half of the union members, arrive at the assembly point at noon, we'll cast a vote on whether to go on strike to prompt the management and government representatives to negotiate with us," Lin Wan-fu (林萬福), chairman of the Taiwan Business Bank Industrial Union (台灣企銀工會), said yesterday.

Although the bank announced the rules for its share sale last week, management and labor representatives have not yet reached a consensus on what will happen to employees after the bank is sold.

The union demands that employees be offered early preferential retirement opportunities every six months for three years following the merger.

However, the bank's management and the Ministry of Finance stressed that a two-year protection period is their bottom line.

Taiwan Business Bank executives two days ago issued an open letter to the bank's more than 4,900 employees, promising that their jobs and benefits will be protected.

The letter, signed by bank chairman Herbert Chung (鍾甦生) and president Hwang Shiu-nan (黃秀男), called on employees to abandon the idea of a strike, as this would have a "grave impact" and cause "irrecoverable harm to the bank's corporate image, labor-capital relations and shareholder interests."

The bank's vice president Liao Hsi-hsun (廖錫勳) said it was decided at last week's board meeting that the company will neither cut back on salaries nor lay off workers in the two years following the merger.