BANK employees deserve a special bonus for doing their duty in providing an essential service during the Covid-19 epidemic, the National Union of Bank Employees said.

Nube secretary-general J. Solomon said some bank workers had become infected as a consequence.

He said those working on the frontlines were at higher risk of infection.

“The banks should at the very least provide a one-off payment to the bank workers, many of whom are in the B40 and M40 groups,” said Solomon.

He said the banks could easily afford it as they had reported healthy profits.

“Maybank for instance notched RM942 million in profit for the second quarter of 2020; CIMB’s profit was RM277 million for the same period; RHB made RM400 million; and Public Bank’s profit was RM1 billion,” he said in a statement.

“It must be noted these profits were recorded while a six-month moratorium on loan repayments for individuals and businesses was in force,” he said.

Solomon said scores of bank workers were on duty during the various phases of the movement control order.

The government and banks must show gratitude to the bank employees who did their jobs without question, he said.

“Some form of monetary recognition will go a long way to show they are cared and provided for by both their employer and the government.”

While hailing the government’s move to extend a one-off payment to enforcement personnel, Solomon said frontline workers in the private sector also deserved appreciation.

“Granted, the government will insist it does not get involved in matters that are solely in the domain of the private sector. However, it was the government that ordered banks to remain open even if the move risked the health of bank employees,” he said.

Solomon said Putrajaya should not think twice about calling the banks and other employers to give workers due recognition for helping to mitigate the impact of Covid-19 on the rakyat.

“Nube feels strongly that banks especially should not dismiss or trivialise the role of their employees in keeping branches open while much of the country is in one form of lockdown or another.” – November 30, 2020.