HSBC Malta Sit-In Strike: Qormi Staff Revolt Freezes Services and Revives Island’s Bank Wars

HSBC Malta customers found themselves locked out of several services yesterday after dozens of bank employees staged a surprise sit-in strike at the Qormi headquarters, the first industrial action to hit the island’s largest lender in 17 years.

The protest began at 07:30 when roughly 60 unionised staff – mostly back-office clerks and customer-care operators – refused to take their posts, camping instead in the glass-fronted atrium beneath the giant brass mural that usually greets clients with a polished smile. By mid-morning the queue of frustrated pensioners and summer-job students snaked around the corner of Triq in-Nutar Zarb, their patience wilting faster than the ice-cream they had planned to buy with freshly-withdrawn cash.

Union president Kevin Camilleri told HOT PRESS the walk-out was “a last resort” after talks collapsed over a new performance-based bonus scheme that workers say shifts the goal-posts every quarter. “We’re not asking for champagne wages,” Camilleri said, balancing a megaphone in one hand and a lukewarm Kinnie in the other. “We simply want the same cost-of-living adjustment every other sector got in January.” HSBC Malta, which posted a €94 million profit last year, insists the variable model rewards “agile banking” and mirrors practices across the HSBC group.

While the strike lasted only six hours – staff filed back in at 14:00 after management agreed to freeze the contested metrics until a mediator is appointed – the ripple effect was felt from Valletta to Gozo. Mobile branches cancelled village rounds, online mortgage approvals were paused, and the Sliema cashpoint ran out of €50 notes just as cruise-ship passengers began hunting for Sunday lunch. “I’ve been trying to pay my car licence before the penalty kicks in,” groaned Swieqi resident Rachel Pace, 29, who works two gig jobs and can’t afford delays. “In Malta if you miss a government deadline, the fine is basically another utility bill.”

Cultural undercurrents quickly surfaced. Older patrons swapped memories of the 1970s “bankers’ strike” when cheques were cleared in dark backrooms of Band Club kitchens; younger activists live-streamed the sit-in on TikTok, overlaying 1930s ħabbata guitar to underscore the David-versus-Goliath vibe. By lunchtime someone had taped a cardboard sign to the HQ door: “Your profit is our overtime – Minn Malta mhux minn Londra!” The slogan, a nod to HSBC’s London ownership, captured the perennial tug-of-war between local identity and global capital that colours so much of island life.

Economist Stephanie Falzon warned that repeated disruption could nudge customers toward digital-only banks such as Revolut, already used by 48 % of Maltese aged 20-45. Yet she also noted the strike’s timing – just weeks before the traditional September property surge – gives workers rare leverage. “Credit delays hurt developers who need bridging loans before the Notary Public queues lengthen,” Falzon said. “In a country where everyone knows everyone, a six-hour bottleneck can cost a cousin his townhouse flip.”

By evening HSBC issued a curt apology, promising to extend call-centre hours today and waive late-payment fees on loans caught in the cross-fire. Still, the episode has reopened a sore point: Malta is the EU country with the highest bank-branch density per capita, yet also the lowest wage growth in financial services. “We bail out tourists who lose their cards, but we can’t get a fair COLA?” asked clerk Maria Farrugia, still wearing her protest badge as she locked up. “That’s not the Malta our fathers built with limestone and overtime.”

Whether the mediator can forge a compromise before the Christmas bonus season remains to be seen. For now, Maltese savers are scanning the fine print on their banking apps – and discovering that even on a sun-drenched island, cloud storage is no substitute for solidarity.