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BCB has announced to
SBEU during a Briefing held on 27 July 2006 that the
top management and the board of directors of BCB has decreed that interest rate
for SHL shall be increased from 3% to 4% (more
than 33% jump) with immediate effect for new loans and wef 1 January 2007 for existing loans.
Please note that the
meeting was not a consultation nor does it seek the views of the unions. The decision has been made prior to the
briefing.
At a time that staff are
really suffering from the pain of the exorbitant increase in the fuel price , such interest rate hike will
mean at least 70% of the staff will have to fork out up to more than RM100
extra a month.
UNJUSTIFIED
The bank’s reason that
interest rates in Malaysia
are on the way up does not hold water.
Why didn’t the bank reduce interest rates for SHL when interest rates
were at a historical low and banks even offered interest free loans to
customers during the past 7 years???
Interest rate for SHL
has always been consistent and never directly linked to BLR. Because of SHL, SBEU has been conservative in
demanding salary increase because banks always argue that there is a monetary
benefit in the preferential interest rates.
The only other time interest rate was revised was when the bank reduced
it from 3.5% to 3* because of the harmonization
of the terms and conditions after the merger between BBB and BOC.*
Even at 3 % banks are making profit out of SHL. Please note that customers are putting
hundred of millions in savings accounts that earn less than 3%. Customers are
also putting and more millions into current account that does not cost the bank
a single sen in interest. Bad debts
provisions for SHL are negligible. There is no marketing cost and minimal
credit management cost for SHL.
The banking system is
still flushed with excess liquidity and banks are struggling to maintain loan
growth until they have to relax credit criteria. So why does the board of BCB do to increase
their profits and to please shareholders?
Squeeze money out of their own
staff loans, knowing that staffs are not able to shift their loans to other
financial institutions.
This is also a blatant
attempt to discourage staff to take SHL.
Why? Simple -when the bank introduced VSS/MSS, one reason why staff did
not
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apply for VSS is that they are still committed in their SHL so that bank gets
less employees to apply for VSS.
DISHONOUR LOAN AGREEMENTS
The bank is also even
prepared to dishonour the loan
agreement they sign with the staff at the time when the loan was approved-
Interest rate was fixed at 3%. There are no provisions in the loan agreement
that gives the bank the right to increase the interest rate.
WHO IS TAKING OVER WHOM?
Another reason which is
very clear to us is that current SBB staff housing loan is at 4%. BCB now wants to follow SBB. Is BCB
taking over SBB or is it following SBB?
It also offends the
basic principle that employees will enjoy the better of the terms and conditions of employment after a merger. As
evidenced * above.
STAFF DECLARATION Witch Hunt
The Bank is also using
the pretext of the merger to go on a witch hunt of employees and their families
who have credit facilities with either bank,
if they borrow money from staff, have football bets, outstanding traffic
summons or have outstanding alimony or child support payments.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The Bank also decreed
that they will implement new benchmark and change the ratings/weightage of the
system with effect 1 July
2006; they only brief the Unions on 27 July- i.e. after it has been
implemented.
They blatantly shifted
the goals post during the game- after half time- actually. The senior management should be red carded!!
Such arbitrary decrees
are a direct result of the merger, which is designed to benefit shareholders
only- not customers, not employees. They appear to ignore the views of the
unions and employees, much less respect the wishes of staff.
This is the mantra of
the merged bank- expect more of these arbitrary decisions.
What message do members
want to send to the bank?
GET READY!
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