The highest political body of the Union was in Perugia for the first time
Commercial pressures and banking desertification were the themes at the center of the round table between president of the Umbria Region Donatella TeseiThe president of Confartigianato Imprese Terni Mauro FranceschiniThe general secretary of Uil Umbria Maurizio Molinari and the Uilca general secretary Fulvio Furlan within the Uilca National Executive, the highest political body of the Trade Union Organisation, which took place for the first time yesterday and today in the Umbrian capital.
“Commercial pressures affect banks and credit companies but also political institutions and civil society. This is why as Uilca we are convinced, today more than ever, that it is essential to recover a social role for companies”remember the Uilca general secretary Fulvio Furlan. “Today’s debate is an example of the path we have taken, that of a broader debate involving the social partners involved. With this same logic we continue the battle against banking desertification that we carry out with the branch closure campaign? No, thanks and which has now given rise to a working group at the CNEL on the topic, thanks to the support of president Renato Brunetta”.
“Umbria is a region with a particular shape and, precisely because of this, the issue of services is fundamental. In this sense, banking desertification is a national phenomenon, with local repercussions. What politics can do is implement actions that can prevent this trend. Too often, we find ourselves faced with the industrial plans of large banks that do not consider the social aspect of the credit institution. For this reason, among political actions, there is and must be a profound defense of local banks and those institutions that are based in the territory”, so the president of the Umbria Region, Donatella Tesei.
“The problem of bank closures becomes a real social problem: the citizen wants to talk to the banker. The social problem is also in terms of sociability: with the absence of an essential service such as that of banks, these aspects are also compromised, especially for older people”, observes the general secretary of Uil Umbria Maurizio Molinari.“It is essential to underline the fact that bank employees are not numbers, we must interpret and support a social change in light of new technologies which however do not change the social importance of credit institutions”.
“As businesses we are very worried about the closure of bank branches, especially because when a bank closes the human relationship with the credit institution is lost, which cannot be replaced by technology, an algorithm cannot make all the necessary and correct assessments on the state of a company’s health”, observes the president of Confartigianato Imprese Umbria Mauro Franceschini.
Data on banking desertification in Umbria
In Umbria, from 2018 to 2023, bank branches decreased by 23.7% (-102), going from 431 to 329. The municipalities served by banks decreased by 19.2% (-15), going from 78 to 63. In 2023, there will be 44,652 inhabitants without a bank branch, equal to 5.2%, of which 15,671 are over 60. For Luciano Marini, regional secretary of Uilca Umbria,”banks must recover their social role and oversee the territory in terms of support for communities and businesses and to guarantee regular access to cash”.
