President Bachelet: “Chile’s development needs strong and modern unions”
The President of Chile, Michelle Bachelet, together with the Employment Minister, Javiera Blanco, inaugurated the new BancoEstado building, which is owned by the bank’s union.
“This building is the culmination of an enormous effort that was made possible thanks to the unity of the union. This is a proud moment for you and for people throughout Chile,” the President said.
The new nine-story building has two basement levels with 417 parking spaces. As well as office space, there are various conference rooms, multi-purpose rooms and 12 bedrooms to accommodate employees visiting the capital from other parts of Chile. Construction took 14 months at a cost of around $5 billion pesos.
“Chile’s development needs strong and modern unions. Therefore my government has made a commitment to strengthen trade unions and collective bargaining. We must assert the rights of workers and ensure decent jobs with formal contracts and good health and safety and working conditions for all Chileans,” she added.
President Bachelet also referred to the Government’s progress with its employment agenda.
“We have fulfilled our promise to modernize a regulation that was already 35 years old and we are prepared to continue making improvements where needed. We have worked in a transparent manner, through months of pre-legislative work and we have listened to everyone’s’ opinions. We must not lose sight of the main objective, which is to reduce the disparities that still exist in labor relations,” she said.
Finally, the President highlighted the importance of BancoEstado for the people of Chile, as it is the only bank that is present in every municipality in the country. It has 363 branches, 104 ServiEstado payment centers, 12,700 self-service kiosks (Cajas Vecinas) and over 2,300 ATMs.
“In 2014 we went ahead and capitalized BancoEstado for US$450 million, which allowed the bank to massively expand its loans. It is part of our plan to make Chile a more inclusive and friendly country with a more diversified, productive and competitive economy. And of course, decent jobs and suitable working conditions are a vital part of the country we want to build,” she stressed.