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Announcing a Union for Bank Workers

Dear friends and co-workers,

A union for bank workers: it's the norm throughout most of the world where bank workers enjoy well-paying, secure jobs and workplace protections against problems like sales goals and favoritism. Here in the US, frontline bank workers like me struggle with low wages and predatory metrics that may force us to choose between our jobs and our customers. That's why a union for US bank workers is an idea whose time has come.

This week, my fellow Santander Bank employees delivered letters demanding Santander executives respect our right to form a union and treat US workers and customers with the same standards that the bank has everywhere else. At the same time, thousands of Santander workers in Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Chile, Spain, Italy, Portugal, and Germany held protests in support of their American co-workers.

Santander employees who are in unions in almost every other nation have vastly better working conditions than the non-union Santander workers in the USA.

  • For example, Santander workers in Spain make $15,000 more than the national average wage. If Santander workers were paid as well in the US, they'd be making around $65,000.
  • In the US, Santander workers' job performance is based on arbitrary and perverse metrics, but in Santander's union branches, workers have a say in how their job performance is evaluated.

The difference isn't a matter of luck! Santander workers in other countries came together in their own organizations, to speak with one voice and push for fairness and better working conditions. Santander workers in the United States deserve respect and a voice on the job too!

Calling for a union is a big step for the bank worker members of the Committee for Better Banks. Our workers work at dozens of banks throughout the US, and organizing at Santander is only the start.

Show your support of bank workers by sharing this graphic on Facebook.

If you don't use Facebook that's ok, just reply to this email and we will get you involved!

In Solidarity (solidarity means standing together with -- that's the name of our campaign, #SantanderSolidarity),

Juan,
Santander Employee in NYC
member of the Committee for Better Banks