Anarcosyndicalists from all over the world, federated in the IWA, are in solidarity with the workers of Isban (Santander Group), demanding the reinstatement of a dismissed comrade and an end to the outsourcing of the workers.
COB in Brazil organized informational actions and protests in cities like Aracajú and Araxá at the end of September.
The ZSP from Poland concentrated its efforts on actions in Warsaw. There the Santander group has important strategic interests in expansion through the acquisition of new banks. The police and security presence at the entrance of the bank called even more attention to the comrades.
The anarchosyndicalists of Montevideo visited the headquarters of Santander Bank in Uruguay, informing about the conflict in the office and outside.
The Portuguese Section of the IWA organized informational acts in the center of Lisbon and Oporto.
In Norway, the NSF informed people in the center of Oslo. There the information was well received and people were interested in knowing more details about the conflict.
In the UK, the Solidarity Federation visited banks in Brighton and Hove with informational posters about the conflict.
In Germany, FAU in Koln informed about the conflict.
Unions located in regions where there are no offices of the Santander group, like KRAS in Russia or PA in Slovakia, showed their solidarity by sending protests to the companies involved in the conflict (Santander, Isban and Panel Sistemas).
In Spain, dozens of actions were held at Bank Santander branches.
Salamanca, Ciudad Rodrigo, Barcelona, Madrid, Villaverde, Zaragoza, Málaga and León are some of the places where the CNT expressed their opposition to the outsourcing of workers and demanded the reinstatement of the fired comrade.
The main headquarters of Isban, in Boadilla del Monte, became the preferred place of protest for the anarchosyndicalists of Madrid. There they distributed more than 1000 leaflets to workers in a situation of absolute precarity.
We also contacted the Isban management at the Alhambra building. They refused to discuss with us, protected by numerous private police deployed especially for the occasion.
Also the most centrally located branches of the banks in Madrid were visited in the morning, informing the employees and passersby of the situation in the conflict.
Dozens of workers gave their support to the protests.
Due to the attempts of the national police to disperse the informational picket, about 500 leaflets were given out. They did not want to understand that the real criminals are in the offices of the corrupt management, not in the streets with the workers.
The dismissed comrade made a symbolic gesture of thanks to the comrades in solidarity by putting up a banner in English in his current workplace, Panel Sistemas.
There were also actions of sabotage made as a form of solidarity.
These types of actions were seen especially in the working class areas of Madrid.
The conflict started in August 2013, when workers organized in CNT-AIT publically denounced the illegal outsourcing of the staff of ISBAN, IT services for the Santander group. This caused the immediate dismissal of the union delegate, who was sent back to the „agent” company of origin, Panel Sistemas, in an attempt by the management to avoid any contagious effect.
Revolutionary unions around the world, federated in the IWA, responded to the attack demanding the reinstatement of the dismissed comrade in the places where the multinational is present.
Isban manages some „agent” firms which provide cheap and precarious staff. They deal with more than 10,000 workers illegally outsourced to other companies all over the world, which can be dismissed at any moment without any cost on the part of the bank since they are not recognized as their own personnel.
The workers of Isban are afraid of winding up on the streets if they make even the slightest protests, which makes them accept surrealistic work days, overtime, obligatory transfers, half-time work, jobs and salaries too low for the real work performed and lots of other abuses.
Hundreds of irregular dismissals have been denounced by the workers. The dismissals have hit the workers in the most position: the ones who were illegally outsourcing, mothers on reduced working days and workers who were transferred abroad have been the preferred targets for cuts. With the complicity of the government and the yellow unions, Santander has gotten away with the mass destruction of employment for practically free.
The Santander group not only is making money, but it had a profit of 2,255 million euros in the first six months of 2013, almost a 30% increase from the same period in 2012.
Emilio Botín, Rodrigo Rato, Alfredo Sáenz, Jose María Amusátegui and other directors of Santander Bank have been denounced for illegal practice and even found guilty but they were never punished.
Some of the most infamous deeds were continued tax evasion, the irregular purchases of banks like Banesto or Totta, the collapse and subsequent bailout of Bankia, millions of euros in severance pay for manages, the case of Swiss accounts of the Botin family, the sale of trash mortages, foreclosures, charging abusive interest rates, shady dealings with universities, the participation in arms businesses and the financial management of the terrible prison system. A long list of crimes which are well documented.
The interests of Santander now is clashing with the organized workers who are fighting to change the world. We never give up and will not be silenced by their bribes or repression.
SOLIDARITY AGAINST SANTANDER-ISBAN
REINSTATE THE DISMISSED COMRADE!
Section of Telecommunications and IT
CNT-AIT Madrid
http://informaticamadrid.cnt.es
isban[arroba]cnt.es