Bank unions declare two days of strikes

(ANSA) - Rome, March 24 - Unions representing Italian bank workers on Tuesday decided to call two days of strikes after talks on renewing the collective labour contract for the sector broke down on Monday, ANSA sources said.
    The unions have not yet decided when the strikes will take place.
    They are planning other forms of protest, including a boycott of overtime, the sources said. Union leaders have decided to take legal action if the Italian Banking Association (ABI) stops applying the existing collective contract following the breakdown of negotiations, sources said. On Monday, ABI chief Alessandro Profumo said that unions made unreasonable requests concerning employment, adding that banks have already made concessions to the workers. At the end of January, some 90% of unionized employees participated in a strike for renewal of a national contract, according to unions involved. That included about 30,000 bank staff from all over the country. ABI said then that it was willing to negotiate but that current staff levels had lowered profitability and productivity.