Union, Standard Bank appoint mediator, find common ground
The finance union Sasbo says a mediator has been appointed to manage the restructuring process at Standard Bank.
This week, Standard Bank announced it it will be cutting around 1,200 jobs and close 91 branches as part of efforts to digitise its retail and business bank.
Standard Bank South Africa implements a new banking delivery model https://t.co/SAciZP2iF8 pic.twitter.com/SAij4o45hw
— Standard Bank SA (@StandardBankZA) March 15, 2019
Sasbo’s Assistant General Secretary, Eugene Ebersohn says development at Standard Bank are very worrying given the country’s high unemployment rate.
“Sasbo already tabled alternatives for the bank to consider mitigating the adverse impact of these retrenchments in order to minimise and reduce the number of forced retrenchments,” says Ebersohn.
According to Ebersohn, the union has secured incentivised retrenchment packages for affected staff.
“Sasbo is pleased that the Bank conceded to its demands in agreeing that retrenched staff will be able to make use of training and upskilling opportunities provided by the Bank in order to start with careers even outside the finance sector and to encourage entrepreneurship and self-employment,” said Ebersohn.
According to Sasbo, Standard Bank will also assist those employees who want to lump or pool their severance benefits together in order to enable them to start new businesses or even buy a franchise.