Jobs on the line as BITU, Scotia meet.

ANY DECISION by the Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS) to go through with a proposal that would see three sections of its Jamaican operations being moved to the Dominican Republic can be viewed as “chasing corporate greed”, one trade unionist has suggested.

Scotiabank announced on September 18 a proposal to consolidate its Business Service Centre, its Lending Service Unit and a unit within its Processing Support Centre in Jamaica into the Caribbean Central hub in the Dominican Republic.

The Bustamante Industrial Trade Union (BITU), which represents all employees across the potentially affected sections of the business, has since contended that the move could cost 100 jobs.

Prior to the announcement, the bank had written to the union to inform it of the proposed consolidation while seeking to engage in consultation.

In a letter dated September 4 addressed to BITU president Senator Kavan Gayle, it explained that the proposed changes were centred on bringing best practices, standards and increased efficiency to the bank’s processing and support services, while reducing overall structural costs, resulting in the expansion of its Shared Services and Collections hubs across the Caribbean.

The proposals are to be discussed in detail at a meeting between the union and the management of BNS this morning.

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