by Keith Richmond
Workers in the financial services industry, who this year have suffered unprecedented job losses in the eye of an economic storm fuelled by the global recession, have vowed to fight back against attacks on terms and conditions in the sector.
Workplace representatives from banks and insurance companies meeting in Brighton this week for the Unite union’s conference for the financial sector heard how, despite billions being spent rescuing bankers from the repercussions of their own folly, more than 50,000 jobs of ordinary workers have gone in the last 12 months.
Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, said: “Our finance workers are the key to economic recovery in the UK, yet the short term approach of banking executives is to cut jobs in order to bring faster returns to impatient shareholders.
“Today the finance industry looks radically different from where we were this time last year. Yet, incredibly, despite tens of billions of pounds spent by the taxpayer to rescue senior bankers from themselves, very little in the industry has changed. It is front line staff – who earn the lowest salaries – who have been made the sacrificial lambs in this crisis which was caused by greedy, incompetent and corrupt City bankers.”
Lloyds Banking Group this week announced plans to cut more than 700 jobs at its offices in Aylesbury in Buckinghamshire.
Ged Nichols, general secretary of Accord, which represents the affected workers, said: “This is a body blow for the workforce, and for Aylesbury, as the Lloyds Banking Group is the largest private sector employer in the town.”
