Wed, Mar 14, 2001 page17

• Unions vow to protest merger

  FEAR OF CHANGE Unions from the banks involved in the upcoming merger say the plan ignores their needs and will fail to raise competitiveness in the industry

  • By Stanley Chou / STAFF REPORTER
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  Unions from each of the banks involved in the three-way mega-merger announced earlier this week vowed to stage large-scale protests in opposition to the plan.

  The merger to create Taiwan's largest bank -- a consolidation of the Bank of Taiwan (台灣銀行), the Land Bank of Taiwan (土地銀行) and the Central Trust of China (中信局) -- is scheduled to be completed by early 2002, after first being floated in 1999.

  Labor unions from the three banks are now planning to assemble approximately 12,000 members from all over the island to stage a protest in front of the Ministry of Finance (MOF). Unconfirmed reports say the protests will take place on a weekend over the next two weeks when staff are off work.

  Although Minister of Finance Yen Ching-chang (顏慶章) has promised not to lay off any bank employees after the three state-banks are merged, labor unions remain skeptical.

  According to a statement released by the Land Bank of Taiwan Union (土銀產業工會) yesterday, they have four major reasons for the opposition to the merger.

  First, the MOF failed to do a professional evaluation of the plan, a move they say will do little to raise bank competitiveness. Second, the union complained that the merger -- which is expected to take as long as five years to complete -- will stall the banks' commercial growth.

  In addition, the group indicated that the vastly different corporate cultures of the three state-banks is a breeding ground for conflict. Lastly, they claim the merger ignores bank employees' needs and is a waste of money.

  Land Bank of Taiwan chairman and former secretary-general of the Cabinet Wei Chi-lin (魏啟林), said yesterday the bank would do its best to protect the interests of staff, and cooperate with the bank's union.

  Wei also said that he would invite representatives to join the merger committee's board.

  "The merger could be helpful to raise the competitiveness of the Land Bank of Taiwan," said Wei. "In the future, the Land Bank will establish new divisions including a real estate unit, credit cooperatives and an investment banking unit [to absorb redundant staff]. There will be no lay-offs after the merger," said Wei.

  Yen also promised to protect job security.

  "All the capital in the three banks comes from the national treasury," said Yen. "All the staff in the three banks are still civil servants and their interests will be protected by law. I do not believe that bank employees will have any objections to the plan since the merger will not affect their interests or benefits at all."

  According to a Land Bank union report on the merger of the three state-banks dated June 29 last year, the merger is a decision vital to the fate of the three banks. Therefore, the plan should be processed not only in line with ministry guidelines, but also incorporate a professional feasibility study in the plan. So far, the finance ministry has refused to accept the suggestion.

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