MADRID (Reuters) – Spanish unions on Monday called off a one-day-strike that employees at Caixabank were planning to hold on Wednesday to protest against its plans for layoffs, union Comisiones Obreras said on Monday.
CCOO, the largest union in the Spanish financial sector, said the bank had signalled it was open to reduce job cuts and would therefore prolong the negotiations with the bank until June 29. Talks were initially expected to finish on June 10.
In April, Caixabank said it was planning to cut 8,291 jobs, one of the largest in Spanish history, though it later offered to bring that number down to around 7,605, to adapt to a client shift towards online banking.
Caixabank confirmed on Monday said it was considering reducing this number even further.
Around 87% of employees at Caixabank took part on Monday in a partial work stoppage against the bank’s plans. Caixabank declined to comment.
Last week, thousands of BBVA had held a one-day strike to protest its layoff plans, in what was the first such work stoppage involving a national bank in 30 years.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
