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Thursday, March 19, 2009

Should bank workers join unions?

The Service Employees International Union, hoping to push its political and organizing agenda at a time when Americans are mad at bank bonuses, bank bailouts, and bank-problem-related layoffs, plans picket lines at bank offices in Washington, New York, Chicago, and more than 100 other towns today, including Bank of America branches in Brookhaven and Doylestown.

Why banks? SEIU has been pressuring business opponents of the federal Employee Free Choice Act, a labor-backed bill that would make it easier for unions to win bargaining rights by getting workers to sign petitions, instead of holding government-run elections.

Also, says spokeswoman Karen Backus, "we are talking with bank workers." She says that "the pay for tellers is quite low, around the poverty line for a family of four, so many of them are concerned about the downturn in the economy and how it affects their own families" and may welcome help from labor organizers in pushing for job security, wages, and benefits.

Meanwhile, Pennsylvania banks are circulating a report by Reading- and King of Prussia-based Griffin Financial Group L.L.C. warning bank investors and managers of "possible unionization of the banking industry."

Griffin says SEIU is trying to organize bank workers and lists reasons that would be bad for bank owners, citing the experience of the small group of U.S. banks with union contracts:
 -- "Salary and benefit expenses are about 7 percent to 8.5 percent higher" at unionized banks;
 -- "Union-imposed work rules" may require more workers per shift, "bidding" for promotions, and "bumping" to preserve jobs for veteran workers in case of layoffs.

"The unionization threat is real," concludes the Griffin report. "The bigger the bank, the more real the threat in the short term." The report is also a plug for Stevens & Lee PC, Griffin's law-firm affiliate, which has a management-side labor practice that says it helps banks stay "union free." More intoday's Philly Deals print column here.

 
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 10:03 AM  Permalink | 3 comments
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 10:28 AM, 03/19/2009
    shutup - unions are part of what is driving this economy into the toilet especially at the municipal level - why do you think all these cities are broke? Why do you think the automakers are broke?
    — Landfill
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:27 AM, 03/19/2009
    it's a deal with the devil. sure you;re wages go up, but then you're subject to bumping and working with protected morons that are ahead of you "in line." no thanks, I'd take lower pay over that crap.
    — dreinterests
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:33 AM, 03/19/2009
    "The unionization threat is real" - threat to who - Bank CEOs who make 1000 times more than a bank teller. Yeah - it's a huge threat to have a bank teller make a decent wage where they can afford to shop at small businesses, instead of only Walmart.
    — pal


3 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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