Financial Associated Press, December 8 (edited by Shi Zhengcheng)According to media reports on Wednesday, in the face of ECB President Christine Lagarde’s tough attitude, the staff of the European Central Bank are discussing further measures, and even a strike is not ruled out.
The background of the whole thing is also very simple,The ECB is now proposing a 4.07% pay rise for staff starting next January, which is also far below the current inflation rate of 10%. The European Commission also predicted in November that the EU’s inflation rate will remain at a high level of 7% in 2023, while the inflation rate in the euro zone is expected to be 6.1%.By any comparison, this means that ECB staff will be paid less in real money terms.
Carlos Bowles, vice-president of IPSO, the European Central Bank’s trade union, told the media that staff were losing confidence in the institution.The leadership of the ECB is like telling everyone, sorry we screwed up the inflation target, but now you wage earners will pay the price. In a recent survey, the union found that the vast majority of workers were very angry about the pay proposals, which should be concluded by the end of the year.So wait until next January and we will decide whether to take further steps。
Bowles further stated,The unions held talks with ECB President Christine Lagarde a few weeks ago and she said there was “no room for negotiation”. Therefore, the ECB cannot rule out the option of a strike right now, but this will only happen after the situation deteriorates further. In 2009, ECB staff went on strike over pension reform.
It is worth mentioning that although there are also examples of employees of the Brazilian Central Bank going on strike because of dissatisfaction with their salaries this year, it is much more complicated to go on strike at the European Central Bank. as an international organization,The ECB is not bound by the laws of any one country, but operates according to its own rules.Therefore, the employees of the European Central Bank also bear the “minimum service obligation”, and the interpretation of this term alone needs to be discussed on a case-by-case basis.
For Lagarde and Powell on the other side of the ocean, the “inflation spiral” named after wages chasing inflation is the last thing they want to see. Including the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Bank of England will release the latest interest rate resolutions next week. Not surprisingly, there will be another round of unconventional interest rate hikes.
Eric Nielsen, Chief Economic Advisor of UniCredit Bank, commented: “It was embarrassing. While fighting inflation, the ECB also has to deal with stabbing its own staff in the back.The symbolism conveyed in it is really too bad。”
Regarding this internal conflict, the European Central Bank officially responded to the media, saying that the institution will carry out regular annual salary reviews, follow a pre-set method, and can reflect that the 19 euro zone central banks, the European Commission, the European Investment Bank, the international Clearing banks and other institutions refer to the salary dynamics of institutions, and this mechanism is applicable to all employees.
The European Central Bank also stated that it is trying to accommodate the demands of employees. The bank recently reached a new remote working agreement with employees, allowing employees to work remotely for up to 110 working days a year. According to this agreement, ECB employees can work remotely for up to 10 days per month, but the number of consecutive working days of remote work cannot exceed 10 days.