South Africa’s biggest financial union is threatening to disrupt the country’s banking industry by leading its 73,000 members on a strike next month, in what would be its largest industrial action in almost a century.
The planned two-day walkout will target lenders that have consulted staff over job cuts in recent months and other institutions that employ members of the Sasbo union, according to General Secretary Joe Kokela. Sasbo wants banks to consider options other than retrenchments and begin a program to re-skill employees whose positions are at risk, he said in an interview on Monday.