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White FNB staff to get bursaries

Johannesburg - Listed retail bank FNB and trade union Solidarity have reached a deal on granting bursaries.

In a statement on Thursday, Solidarity said white FNB staff members who were excluded from a FirstRand black economic empowerment trust would in future have access to the same benefits offered to black employees by the black empowerment trust.

According to the union, FNB CEO Michael Jordaan and the deputy general secretary of Solidarity, Dirk Hermann, held discussions resulting in a settlement between the parties.

The dispute between Solidarity and FNB arose after the bank invited all staff, through its newsletter Treetalk, to apply for bursaries.

But FNB also said only black staff members would qualify.

The bursary scheme formed part of a larger black economic empowerment transaction of the FirstRand group.

In terms of the agreement reached between Solidarity and FNB, employees excluded from the FirstRand Trust would now have equal access to an alternative bursary scheme.

"The criteria for awarding benefits from the FirstRand Trust would be the same as the criteria for awarding benefits to white employees who were excluded from the FirstRand Trust," Solidarity said.

It added that the talks had been held in a positive spirit and FNB had indicated from the start it did not want to discriminate against employees.

"In the settlement agreement, FNB states that it has a variety of other bursary schemes to support staff members.

"According to FNB, their policy has always been to award bursaries based on merit and not to discriminate against certain groups," Solidarity said.

In terms of the agreement, FNB undertook not to discriminate against white employees when awarding bursaries, the union said.

The agreement stipulated that all FNB employees, regardless of race, who earned less than R100 000 a year would have equal access to the benefits defined by the FirstRand Trust.

In a separate statement, FNB said it remained committed to equal access to educational benefits regardless of race.

"FNB will formally extend the education-based benefits of the FirstRand Staff Assistance Trust (FSAT) to white staff earning less than R100 000 per annum, who are excluded from the FSAT, using existing bursary schemes."

The FSAT remained part of the group's far-reaching black economic empowerment commitment.

"The FSAT was formed in 2005 for the benefit of black South African employees of the FirstRand Group, aimed at providing financial assistance in the fields of education and healthcare, as defined by the financial sector codes," it said.

FNB's policy was to grant benefits on merit without any form of discrimination.

"FNB has always recognised the importance of education and remains committed to a variety of bursary schemes and educational support programmes.

"The FSAT is but one component of our overall support of education," it said.

- Sapa

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