The labor union for Bowa Commercial Bank (寶華銀行) said it would vote on a strike resolution on Saturday if a new contract agreement is not reached with its custodian, the Central Deposit Insurance Corp (CDIC, 中央存保).
Previous negotiations failed to address job security and other concerns in the wake of a possible auction of the bank next month, the union said in a statement released yesterday.
Jerry Hsieh (
However, CDIC only agreed to suggest that bidders retain a maximum of 50 percent of Bowa employees, with a one-year job guarantee, Hsieh said in a telephone interview yesterday.
In a statement issued yesterday, the union said its demand for a minimum 60 percent employee retention ratio was reasonable, citing the nearly 70 percent retention ratios at the Enterprise Bank of Hualien (
In June, Chinatrust Commercial Bank (
Hsieh said the union would like to continue addressing its concerns to CDIC.
"Our door is always open to the CDIC," he said. "But we need to secure our right to strike to safeguard our jobs in the long run."
Bowa has a total of 1,100 employees at its 39 branches nationwide. The bank has been in state-run CDIC's custody since August after it failed to raise fresh capital to strengthen its financial structure.
Based on Taiwan Ratings Corp's (
CDIC -- which is scheduled to auction off the bank's assets and liabilities on Jan. 31 -- downplayed the union's strike threat yesterday, describing it as a "strategic move" the union is making to increase its bargaining power.
"They [the union] of course have to say that ... It is a gesture they must take to increase their odds for a better deal," CDIC president Johnson Chen (
Chen didn't think the strike threat would jeopardize the bank's auction next month.
"It will be held on schedule," he said, adding that CDIC vice president Wang Nan-hua (
Chen said that any final decision regarding job security would depend on the winning bidder as CDIC could only exercise "moral suasion" to minimize any negative impact on employees.
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