The matter in question concerns the 26th day off that the government has fixed by law. According to the ABBL, employees over 50 should not be able to benefit from this additional day as their age already accorded them more holiday time.
ALEBA, on the other hand, considered this to be an act of discrimination. Laurent Mertz, the union's general secretary, said this kind of age was unacceptable. They had worked with national unions and since the ABBL had not implemented any of the changes - i.e. making the 26th holiday day available to everyone - concrete actions would follow.
Protests were being planned, however what exactly these would entail neither Laurent Mertz or President Roberto Mendolia were willing to reveal.
ALEBA did not know how many employees their decision would impact, as the employer's association had not revealed them. And while four employers had implemented the 26th holiday day, many others hadn't.
Aside from amendments to collective agreements within the banking sector, negotiations are planned with the Post, Sixx and insurance groups. Roberto Mendolia has said that these should be negotiated independently as they too, risk condemnation. Laurent Mertz and Roberto Mendolia looked back at the previous year's elections, and how they had managed to attract a couple of hundred more members, with about 9,800 to 9,900 employees from the banking sector.
However, since 41 per cent of the delegates who were voted in do not belong to a union, ALEBA representatives were worried that employee rights weren't being defended strongly enough. Other social trends were identifiable, as people wanted to support the cause, but were unwilling to bind or commit themselves to a central office.
