Banks, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Labour Unions, Labour-market

Twenty members of the trade union are about to go to Stockholm to attend the protest.

"The aim of the picket is to draw attention of the Swedish public to cowboy capitalism and how differently a Swedish company treats its employees in Sweden and in Estonia," union trustee Tarmo Kase told.

69% of the employees of the Estonian branch of Nordea have joined the trade union.

On Dec. 19, trustees delivered a petition to the board of the parent bank in Stockholm asking the bank to stop violating the law in concealing from the trade union important information concerning employees, interference in the internal affairs of the trade union and restricting the union membership of employees, as well as to take into consideration the interests of employees by involving them in the making of decisions concerning their future.

The petition was signed by 70% of the workers of the Estonian branch of Nordea. None of the members of the management board of the Swedish parent found time to meet with the trustees despite the visit having been announced and agreed upon well in advance.

The Estonian branch of Nordea Bank AB decided at the end of November to halt negotiations on a collective agreement with the Estonian financial sector union, saying that the talks will be resumed after a merger of the branch with the local branch of DNB.

The bank said the talks had to be halted due to substantial differences between the positions of the parties when it comes to the purpose and the terms of the agreement.