A group of about fifty employees of 1st National bank were on Tuesday morning outside the bank on Bridge Street staging what they described as a peaceful protest.
“Increments, profit sharing, pay us what you owe”, they chanted as customers made their way into the bank.
Last Thursday the bank customers were adversely affected as several employees stayed off the job, disrupting services ahead of the long Thanksgiving weekend.
That same day the bank issued a notice informing customers that only teller services, wire transfers and ATM transactions were available at its JQ Mall Rodney Bay and Bridge Street branches.
No further information was provided.
However on Tuesday, one of the protestors told St. Lucia Times the reason behind the actions of the bank staff. According to a spokesperson for the group of protestors outside the bank, employees were simply demanding what was really theirs, which was “increment adjustments”.
“ Äfter RBC was acquired, the bank agreed in principle to pay all staff across the board for the additional work load. However as of recent, they decided that they are just not paying it, so we are outside peacefully protesting and trying to arrive at some compromise,” the protesting staff member told us.
We were informed that among those protesting were workers from all 1st National Bank branches, including Vieux Fort. We were also told that workers are represented by the National Workers Union, who have been meeting with the bank’s management to arrive at a resolution.
“In the meantime, we will continue to protest for what the bank is owing us and to get the message across and to get it clear,” a placard bearing staff member said.
Efforts to reach the banks management for comment proved futile.
On April 7, 2021, 1st National Bank announced that the activities and assets of RBC Saint Lucia, had been integrated into 1st National Bank Saint Lucia Limited through the successful purchase of the RBC’s banking operations.
