UNI Global Union is backing its Romanian finance affiliate after the union sent an open letter to the CEO of Italian multinational bank, UniCredit Group, documenting a systematic campaign of union repression and discrimination against workers transferred following last year’s merger of Alpha Bank Romania and UniCredit Bank Romania.
The Vocea Noastră trade union, affiliated to UNI through the Trade Union Federation of Insurance and Banks (FSAB), represents around 1,000 employees at UniCredit Bank in Romania. In the letter to UniCredit CEO, Andrea Orcel, the union alleges that local management has systematically targeted workers transferred from Alpha Bank Romania – including union leaders – through a coordinated series of actions that violate Romanian labour law, EU Directive 2001/23/EC and UniCredit’s own collective agreement.
The Academy structure
Following the merger, transferred employees were placed in a dedicated structure called the Academy, which the union describes as a de facto elimination corridor. Workers were stripped of meaningful duties, placed in roles below their qualifications and subjected to constant pressure to accept inferior positions. The union notes that this structure applied almost exclusively to Alpha Bank Romania transferees, leaving the pre-existing UniCredit workforce unaffected.
Union leaders – including the entire Executive Bureau and the leadership of the Bucharest organisation – were also channelled into this structure, in what the union characterizes as a deliberate attempt at marginalization.
Dismissals and retaliation
On 4 February 2026, UniCredit Bank Romania approved the elimination of 14 positions within the Academy. The union states that all five employees who had initiated legal proceedings against the employer were among those dismissed, along with the President, Vice-President and Bucharest President of Vocea Noastră.
The union argues that this is not a neutral restructuring measure but a retaliatory action in direct violation of Article 118 of the collective agreement, which prohibits the termination of union leaders’ contracts during or within two years of their mandate, except in narrowly defined circumstances. UniCredit Bank Romania’s HR leadership also reportedly characterised workers’ recourse to the courts as lacking “good faith” and suggested that Vocea Noastră is not a legitimate union – interference in union activity that the letter calls unlawful.
UNI’s Head of Finance, Angelo Di Cristo, condemned UniCredit’s conduct:
“What we are seeing at UniCredit Bank Romania is not an isolated incident – it is a pattern. Union leaders have been marginalized, harassed and ultimately dismissed for doing their jobs. These allegations smack of union-busting, plain and simple, and we urge global leadership to intervene and ensure that its operations in Romanian comply with the law and the bank’s own declared commitments to workers’ rights. UNI Finance stands in full solidarity with the workers and leaders of Vocea Noastră.”
Union demands
Furthermore, a broader network restructuring programme is also under scrutiny. Of 42 branches earmarked for closure, 41 belong to units acquired from Alpha Bank Romania.
Vocea Noastră is calling on UniCredit Group to:
- conduct an independent and transparent review of the allegations within 30 days, with published findings and immediate remedial action for those affected;
- hold accountable the HR team and management responsible for the purging strategy;
- bring the conduct of UniCredit Bank Romania into line with the Group’s declared ESG values and European standards on workers’ rights and trade union freedoms.
The letter closes with a sharp reminder: “UniCredit presents itself as a responsible European bank, committed to ESG principles and to respecting the fundamental rights of employees. What happens at UniCredit Bank S.A. is the antithesis of these commitments.”