Unions are asking big banks to “share” the $26 billion in profits they make with their workers.

Five major Spanish banks Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank, Banco Sabadell and Bankintercompleted one of the best years in their history with some advantages will install more than 26 billion euro, which is 27% more than the previous exercise. Everyone got historical recordswith the exception of CaixaBank, despite the fact that it faced emergency tax to the bank, for which they paid more than 1 billion euros.

The catalyst that made the appearance of these historical figures possible was European Central Bank (ECB) and his decision to raise interest rates until the price of money reaches 4.5%. This change in the direction of monetary policy led to an increase in fields banks by giving them the ability to make the loans they provide to their customers more expensive, including mortgages, and gradually raising interest rates for savers who put their money on deposit.

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It is these millions of dollars in results that the three largest financial sector unions are based on: UGT, CCOO and FINEto request Salary increase “fair” in collective agreements negotiated with employers banking, savings and credit cooperatives. They argue that the proposals presented by employers in the latest negotiations “are not consistent with historical results,” he says. Javier de Dios Responsible for sectoral policy of the financial sector CCOO.

“We went through several years during which the profitability of banks and savings banks was low due to low interest rates, and during those times workers we are tightening our belts and we are in the process of raising the minimum wage. We have been consistent in addressing the economic situation of businesses, and now is the time for them to be consistent and pass on some of their record profits to the workforce,” says De Dios.

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He believes it is inconsistent for bank executives to make speeches thanking workers for their efforts to obtain these benefits while at the same time offering wage increases.”scarce” We are talking about statements by the President of Banco Santander, Ana Botin, in which she assured that she was “proud of the entire team for these excellent results.” These recognitions, according to De Dios, should be embodied in “significant increase wages by employers, since failure to do so puts banks in a very bad position in relation to their corporate social responsibility to your templates.”

Given that their requests were ignored, the three unions said they had no choice but to “move to social conflict” and they called for mobilization this month and next. In particular, they called for two-hour partial strike on February 26. and, in the event of no progress in negotiations, they will take 24-hour strike on March 22.. They also planned manifestation in Madrid next February 8.

Some mobilizations to which, according to Javier de Dios, “we are open” paralyze until employers change their stance and significantly improve their wage offers, with a wage recovery by 2024 that could turn by 8%as Abanka has already announced, for 2024, and then we will move on to plans for 2025 and 2026.”

At the moment, employers credit unions presented a proposal to increase salaries 8%. One of savings, CECAproposed growth 7% for four years with the possibility of additional increases related to profitability. This is in line with the position of the employers’ association. banking, AEBwhich, at its fourth meeting in January, also proposed to trade unions a wage increase of 7%.

This proposal is a far cry from the unions’ original approach, which was to increase 17% and 23% for three years across the board and without compensation, takeovers or similar mechanisms that neutralize the increases agreed upon in the agreement and include them in bonuses and bonuses. Offer “reasonable that they can expect to see their results,” says a CCOO union member.

Regarding the indicators achieved by the bank last year, Santander Bank led growth, achieving record profits after achieving 11,076 million Euro, 15.3% more compared to the previous year, due to an increase in its revenues in Europe.

The enterprise, chaired by Ana Botín, generated total revenue (gross profit) of 57,423 million euros, an increase of 10.2% compared to the previous year. These figures, which exceeded analysts’ expectations, may increase this year; according to Botin, they have not yet reached 12 billion euros.

Another bank that exceeded market forecasts was BBVA, achieving profits of over $8 billion for the first time in its history, it achieved, among other things, 8.019 millionA 26.1% more year after year.

The bronze medal for benefits went to KaishaBank, which, unlike the other big four, did not set any records. Yes he won 4.816 million Euro, 53.9% more than in 2022. Sabadell signed a historic profit, reaching 1.332 millionwhat did it mean 55.1% moremainly due to the results of its UK subsidiary TSB.

In its turn, Maria Dolores Dancausa says goodbye to her role as CEO of Bankinter and takes over as non-executive president of the organization after she managed to end 2023 with a historic profit of 845 million Euro, 51% more that in 2022.