RacialJust at aol.com
08-01-1995, 11:27 PM
For those of you who have been frustrated by Fleet's poor performance as a
community banker, it should not be a surprise that Fleet treats its employee
community as poorly. Minorities, particularly people of color, do not
flourish at Fleet. While women are reasonably well placed in the
organization, and in some cases at high levels, there are very, very few
blacks at high levels. Representation by Hispanic and Asian/Pacific
individuals is virtually unheard of.
A group of blacks have been fighting for greater diversity at Fleet. One of
the CRA initiatives announced in February 1994 was the creation of a
Diversity Council for the corporation plus councils for each line of
business. But then FOCUS came ( a year-long, large scale restructuring of
the Firm [read mass layoffs]) and there was no time for creating a council.
We were told "after FOCUS" things would happen. Six weeks before FOCUS was
over, Fleet announced the Shawmut merger, and once again diversity got pushed
into the background behind becoming a bigger bank.
We have been promised a diversity council after the Shawmut merger is
complete. Yet Fleet operates on an every other year acquistion cycle, so
there is rarely anytime for 'frills' like diversity. Someone has already
said that Fleet will merge again after this -- Terry Murray wants to be in
the top 10 and if a bigger bank merges soon, he'll be back down in the teens.
The reports we have on the council is that it is going to be all senior
management. This, allegedly, shows top management support. I don't see much
use in a council dealing with issues of diversity with no one on board having
experienced discrimination. The LOB councils have been eliminated, so it is
quite unlikely that anyone who has seen lack of diversity from the other side
will have a chance to contribute with workable suggestions for change.
Oh, Fleet has hired someone to manage diversity. Described as the "best
qualified" person, they have put a white male with NO Human Resources
experience in this position. Their explanation is that he was on a diversity
council in Fleet's Connecticut Bank and has seen how it works. Hmmmm.....
A few brave employees are fighting the merger, doing what we can to provide
information to community groups like the Northeast Reinvestment Alliance to
fight the merger. We are hoping for some protection from layoffs, which will
hurt the New England economy. And if some place like the EEOC gets a whiff
of Fleet's discriminatory hiring and promotion practices perhaps some changes
will come.
All of us who are active in fighting the merger are convinced that if Fleet
were more diverse there would be far fewer problems with community groups and
better service for all customers.
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list
community banker, it should not be a surprise that Fleet treats its employee
community as poorly. Minorities, particularly people of color, do not
flourish at Fleet. While women are reasonably well placed in the
organization, and in some cases at high levels, there are very, very few
blacks at high levels. Representation by Hispanic and Asian/Pacific
individuals is virtually unheard of.
A group of blacks have been fighting for greater diversity at Fleet. One of
the CRA initiatives announced in February 1994 was the creation of a
Diversity Council for the corporation plus councils for each line of
business. But then FOCUS came ( a year-long, large scale restructuring of
the Firm [read mass layoffs]) and there was no time for creating a council.
We were told "after FOCUS" things would happen. Six weeks before FOCUS was
over, Fleet announced the Shawmut merger, and once again diversity got pushed
into the background behind becoming a bigger bank.
We have been promised a diversity council after the Shawmut merger is
complete. Yet Fleet operates on an every other year acquistion cycle, so
there is rarely anytime for 'frills' like diversity. Someone has already
said that Fleet will merge again after this -- Terry Murray wants to be in
the top 10 and if a bigger bank merges soon, he'll be back down in the teens.
The reports we have on the council is that it is going to be all senior
management. This, allegedly, shows top management support. I don't see much
use in a council dealing with issues of diversity with no one on board having
experienced discrimination. The LOB councils have been eliminated, so it is
quite unlikely that anyone who has seen lack of diversity from the other side
will have a chance to contribute with workable suggestions for change.
Oh, Fleet has hired someone to manage diversity. Described as the "best
qualified" person, they have put a white male with NO Human Resources
experience in this position. Their explanation is that he was on a diversity
council in Fleet's Connecticut Bank and has seen how it works. Hmmmm.....
A few brave employees are fighting the merger, doing what we can to provide
information to community groups like the Northeast Reinvestment Alliance to
fight the merger. We are hoping for some protection from layoffs, which will
hurt the New England economy. And if some place like the EEOC gets a whiff
of Fleet's discriminatory hiring and promotion practices perhaps some changes
will come.
All of us who are active in fighting the merger are convinced that if Fleet
were more diverse there would be far fewer problems with community groups and
better service for all customers.
This post transferred from the cdb-l mailing list