Unite and UNI Global Union target bank and shareholders at HSBC AGM

Trade unions have called on HSBC to set a global standard for working conditions at its AGM, demanding "bloated executive bonuses" do not come at the expense of employee rights.

At the meeting in London, HSBC chairman Stephen Green is expected to quash speculation that he is stepping down this year. The Financial Times reported this week that Green, 61, has told friends he plans to stay in the post for another year or two to steer the bank through the continued financial turmoil, and will tell shareholders that there is no timetable for his departure.
Unite and the UNI Global Union, which represents 900 unions around the world, argue Britain's biggest bank needs a global agreement to protect workers' rights to unionise.

Unite activists leafleted shareholders and carrying placards calling on HSBC to "Give workers equal rights". It claimed that in Colombia, HSBC fired workers after they joined the union.

Cath Speight, Unite national officer, said: "Our unions have come together to urge the shareholders of HSBC to honour their corporate social responsibilities to meet the highest standards of governance and dignity and respect for all HSBC workers in whatever part of the world they work.

"Throughout the world, workers are raising their concerns but are not being heard. A global agreement will mean workers have the right to belong to a trade union, to organise, and to be treated with fairness and respect. UNI and HSBC unions around the world also want a global agreement to ensure bloated executive bonuses don't come at the expense of workers' rights."

The union criticised "huge" pay packets that top HSBC executives are getting while "ordinary workers pay the price for the economic downturn". To compensate for cuts in staff, employees across the globe are doing more work for less pay, staying late and coming in on weekends with little or no overtime compensation, it added.

HSBC executives face a severe grilling from shareholders over pay at today's meeting. The bank will also face questions about a relocation package for chief executive Michael Geoghegan, who has moved to Hong Kong from London.

The unions are also concerned about aggressive sales targets for HSBC staff around the world.

"We have been troubled by the reports that we have heard from workers in most of HSBC's biggest markets of employees being forced to aggressively sell products and services to customers, in many cases despite the customers' needs not because of them," said head of UNI finance Oliver Roethig. "With a global agreement, the company will join us in a partnership to work on a transnational basis to modify this risky practice – for the good of HSBC, its investors and the workers.