After CS takeover: employees must not foot the bill
Over the weekend, what many feared became fact: UBS is taking over Credit Suisse. What may have been the best of all bad solutions for safeguarding the global financial system is likely to have concrete consequences for many of the bank's employees. The Swiss Bank Employees Association SBPV is therefore calling for the immediate appointment of a task force on the jobs at risk and has already contacted CS managers on Saturday to this end.
The situation of Credit Suisse has worsened in recent days. Then, on Sunday, March 19, 2023, the takeover of the ailing bank by UBS was announced. It is well known that such takeovers do not remain without consequences for the employees. For the approximately 17,000 employees, there is an enormous amount at stake after the CS takeover - and thus also for our national economy, writes the Swiss Bank Employees Association SBPV in a statement. It is to be feared that, on the one hand, Credit Suisse is talking about significantly more jobs than was communicated last fall during the bank's strategic realignment. In addition, tens of thousands of jobs outside the banking industry would potentially be at risk. Therefore, the SBPV had already demanded on Saturday, March 18, 2023, the immediate establishment of a task force on the endangered jobs and contacted the CS managers. This task force should include representatives of the employer, the staff commission and the employee associations. Other stakeholders involved - be it other banks, the SNB or the federal government - were also invited to participate.
Focus on people after CS takeover
In the task force called for by SBC, the social partners in particular must define measures for the possible developments in order to limit job losses to the absolute minimum. Where this is not possible, the consequences of redundancies must be cushioned as best as possible beyond the social plan. In this process, the Bank Staff Association will bring its decades of experience and constructive cooperation with the CS Staff Commission to bear. It is now a matter of putting people first.
Credit Suisse has a good social plan. It is used in the event of restructuring and is intended to ensure through various measures that as many affected employees as possible find employment again internally or at other banks. This existing social plan is good and should be applied in any scenario, SBC wrote in a statement. However, additional measures are needed to cushion the dramatic economic consequences. Neither the thousands of dedicated CS employees who are successful in Switzerland nor the general public should foot the bill for the mistakes of the former management.
Existing social plan is not sufficient
In this extraordinary situation, where the future of the bank is at stake, the Courant normal is not enough, said SBA in unison with the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions SGB. The social plan can only be the starting point for the task force to take additional measures against an imminent massive cutback in the banking sector, it said. Neither the thousands of dedicated CS employees nor the general public should pay for the mistakes of the former management.
Source: SBPV
