Banks reach pay agreement with unions

(ANSA) - Rome, April 1 - The Italian bankers' association (Abi) reached an agreement in principle on pay and conditions with bank workers' union representatives in the early hours Wednesday, climaxing 18 months of tense negotiations.
    The accord defines terms renewing bank workers' contracts until Dec. 31, 2018, and has to be ratified by the Abi executive and union meetings.
    Under the deal, bank workers will receive an increase in pay of some 85 euros a month on average for the next three years.
    Last week, the talks had broken down and unions threatened to stage two days of strikes and a boycott on overtime as they protests layoffs and salaries. Abi chief Alessandro Profumo said then that unions had 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, especially as Italy emerges from a lengthy recession.