Bank staff end strike, return to work

The employees of state-run Taiwan Business Bank (台灣企銀) decided to end a four-day work stoppage in protest of a privatization plan and go back to work today after successfully appealing to lawmakers for help yesterday.

Union representatives went to the Legislative Yuan yesterday and petitioned lawmakers to help postpone the sale of the government's holdings in the lender.

"The legislature has agreed to include the halting of the bank's share-sale on the agenda [for this session]," Lin Wan-fu (林萬福), chairman of the Taiwan Business Bank Industrial Union, said in a phone interview yesterday.

Temporary

Lin said the union had decided to temporarily cease its strike, since their pleas to stop the auction and their opposition to a takeover are now widely known, Lin said.

Bank employees will renew their strikes once the ministry announces the potential buyer of the bank, no matter which financial institution it is, according to Lin.

The government last week opened a tender to sell off its 44 percent stake in the bank.

In response to the union, the Ministry of Finance, which governs state-owned banks, said yesterday that the bid would go ahead as planned, despite a difference of opinion with the legislature.

"We hope the bid will not drag on ? and that the strike's end will help the buyer react positively," said Liu Teng-cheng (劉燈城), director general of the ministry's National Treasury Agency.

The union began its work stoppage last Thursday in opposition to the government's plan to sell its stake in the bank. The union's move hindered the auction to sell the government's stake in the bank, which opened the day after the strike began. The result of the auction is still pending.

Bidders

The auction reportedly attracted offers from only three interested buyers, including state-run Mega Financial Holding Co (兆豐金控), Fubon Financial Holding Co (富邦金控) and E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控). Chinatrust Financial Holding Co (中信金控) and Cathay Financial Holding Co (國泰金控) surprised the market by not submitting bids last week.

"We are happy to see the union end the strikes and we hope the bank can make up for the poor service to customers, especially in granting loans and foreign exchange services," Financial Supervisory Commission spokesman Lin Chung-cheng (林忠正) said yesterday.

Over 83 percent of the bank's more than 4,500 employees showed up to work yesterday, according to the commission's data.

The bank's shares yesterday closed down 5.45 percent at NT$10.4 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, and have slid nearly 12 percent from NT$11.8 last Thursday, when the union began the work stoppages.