Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/490723
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 5 APRIL 2015 9 News MATTHEW VELLA INDUSTRIAL action by the Malta Union of Bank Employees at HSBC Malta will continue tomorrow Mon- day, as there are no signs of rap- prochement between management and the union being made over the weekend. The drastic sit-in by HSBC em- ployees this week left hundreds of clients unable to access banking fa- cilities, but the union said the action was a gradual escalation of workers' protest at HSBC's intransigence over negotiations on a collective agree- ment. On Monday, HSBC employees will not be reporting for work after the bank threatened them with a lock- out, suspending pay for workers who obeyed the MUBE directive. MUBE president William Portelli said that so far the industrial action has been successful, with up to 90% of HSBC's 900-person workforce obeying the directives. "The escalation has been coming since HSBC unilaterally reneged on a collective agreement that we ham- mered out back in August 2014, hav- ing spent the whole year since Au- gust 2013 discussing. Then the bank came back, unilaterally refusing the financial package and instead offer- ing workers a much smaller pack- age," he said. Since the communications ban that MUBE ordered earlier this week, there has been "no concrete propos- al" from HSBC, Portelli said. The Malta Employers Association has also been asked to mediate in the dispute, Portelli told MaltaToday. "We have only taken this kind of ac- tion, having arrived at this point after the failure of the collective bargain- ing process," the union boss added. MUBE has insisted that HSBC must "make a better effort" to bargain fair- ly and be practical with all categories of staff across the board… [We're] seriously concerned with HSBC's be- haviour and attitude towards the lo- cal workforce, which is undermining career prospects to local hardwork- ing employees. The union cannot ac- cept such an intransigent approach to negotiations whereby the bank has decided to unilaterally withdraw an originally agreed collective agree- ment at the end of last August's ne- gotiations. The union said that no reasonable efforts to seriously negotiate were forthcoming from HSBC manage- ment, aggravated by unacceptably low increases in salary and mediocre bonus awards which emanated from a unilateral decision taken by the bank outside the collective agree- ment negotiations. The union said that HSBC was adamant on holding back on local negotiations, while management was effectively spending much more on international recruits with 'hefty' fi- nancial packages. The MUBE has demanded a 0.85% staff home loan rate, a salary increase starting with a percentage much higher than 1% salary, and a reduc- tion on the rate of staff homeowner loan maxi-credit. "The CEO is very incorrect when saying that the bank remains com- mitted. As we have already stated, the bank should be seriously concerned with retaining good loyal perform- ing staff long-term and not obsessed with cost cutting and profitability," the MUBE said. The union said that the manage- ment was ignoring the fact that in- ternational recruitment was costing the local operation heavily. "The extra expense is hitting hard the categories represented by the collec- tive agreement plus remuneration to the GCB 4 grade. This effectively is demotivating most of the workforce and not allowing the local group to seriously compete with its rivals in the sector." HSBC employees not reporting for work Monday Wandering craftsmen make their way to Malta WEARING clothing that can only be described as 'particular', 24-year- old German craftsmen Dennis and Joey travel around Europe looking for new cultures to improve and en- rich their crafts, often depending on the kindness of strangers for necessi- ties such as food and shelter. "Our aim is to offer our services to other craftsmen or individuals in order to learn more about the coun- tries we are in. We don't necessarily ask these people for a place to stay, but our rules state that we cannot use any money to pay for a place to sleep, or even to travel from one place to another," they said. Leaving their surnames and old lives behind (including all forms of technology) the craftsmen travel from one place to another with only a small sack containing their belong- ings in tow. It is a tradition dating back around 800 years for craftsmen like Dennis and Joey, to travel for a minimum of three years and a day upon finish- ing their apprenticeships. "Up until 1870, it was actually a rule for crafts- men to leave their hometowns and travel to other cities and learn about people and how their craft is prac- tised abroad," Dennis said. Dennis, a blacksmith, and Joey, a carpenter, both belong to a rela- tively young organisation in Germa- ny called Freire Begegungsschacht (Guild of Free Encountrance). Set up in 1986, the group now accepts over 30 crafts, including carpentry, black- smith, tailoring, confectionery and other traditional skills. The group is one of seven other ar- tisanal groups aiming to encourage the tradition of journeymen in the country. "Each group has similar practices but they all have their own sets of rules. In our group it is not impor- tant what gender, nationality or re- ligion you are, the important thing is having any traditional craft and hav- ing completed your apprenticeship," Joey explained, adding that other organisations were particular about what crafts were practised. Joey points out that some of the group's rules were that journeymen had to be under 30 years old, unmar- ried, not have children and that they must have a clean criminal record. "The journey cannot be used as a means of escapism," he stressed. "It is a way for us to learn about differ- ent cultures and practices," he said. According to Joey, the tradition of travelling craftsmen was typical of Central European countries such as the Netherlands and France and, nowadays it was still alive in Germa- ny, France and Scandinavian coun- tries among others. "We cannot go within a 50km ra- dius of our hometown during our time as journeymen, unless there are extenuating circumstances like the death of a close relative," they told me as they showed me one of their few possessions – a book in which they collect stamps from those peo- ple or places that offer them work. The book also contains certificates of apprenticeships and photographs of meetings where the members of these organisations can meet up and share their experiences and even re- cruit more people. "Our clothing is very recognisable, and all the organisations have pretty much the same outfits, with some small differences in the colour of the ties we wear. The hat is particularly significant because it is a symbol of freedom," Joey said, explaining that hats were traditionally only worn by kings and members of the upper class. "We are free to wear whatever style of hat we choose, and it is there to show that we are all on an equal level when we are travelling. We only take our hats off when we enter places of worship or when we are eating or preparing food, as a sign of respect," Dennis added. Dennis also explained that jour- neymen traditionally had a gold earring in their left ear, which was historically used to ensure that their families could pay for their funeral in the eventuality that they died on the road. "Legend has it that the earring also had a more sinister function in the Middle Ages; when someone was caught stealing something, they would have had their earring torn out as a mark of shame and warning to other possible employers," Joey said. "Our traditional clothing is some- what recognisable in Germany and people often show us kindness even without our having to explain our- selves," Dennis said, recalling an episode where a complete stranger bought them a cup of coffee after recognizing them from their cloth- ing. "You learn to appreciate the little things that make this journey spe- cial," he said. Indeed Dennis pointed out that their journey to Malta was a com- plete matter of chance. "We normally travel on foot, hitch- hiking or relying on the kindness of strangers. Today, for instance, we ar- rived from Valletta to the MaltaTo- day offices by bus because a man at a pub bought us a ticket after hearing what we do." The journeymen explained how their travels had started from Inns- bruck in Austria, and on to Pisa, Livorno, Rome and Palermo in Sic- ily, where they faced various difficul- ties – a scarcity of jobs and even wild dogs on the roads. "We were very lucky to find a Ger- man tourist who booked us a flight to Malta, where we will continue to vis- it cities around the island in search of work," Dennis explained. "This experience has taught us a lot about other people and their cultures, but it has also taught us a lot about ourselves and what we are capable of withstanding. We have learned to appreciate small things and to be content with small acts of kindness like people offering us fruit or sweets or even a hot bath," they explained. Having been in Malta for around three days, the craftsmen said that they were looking forward to finding work on the island, and that the peo- ple had so far proved very friendly if curious. Part of a central European tradition dating back 800 years, German craftsmen Dennis and Joey are currently in Malta as part of a three-year apprenticeship, plying their trade with no disposable income or pre-planned accommodation, MARTINA BORG discovers Dennis (left), a blacksmith, and Joey (right), a craftsman, will be travelling for at least "three years and a day" in order to complete their apprenticeships, all the while eschewing disposable income and modern technology