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Read the latest union news, including information on reskilling as job losses continue in the financial sector and more.

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Stronger focus on reskilling as job losses continue 

As we think about the changes happening in the financial services industry, there are a few key reflections that can bring the picture into focus.

First, we know that, in aggregate, UK banks will never again employ more people than they do today. Second, there will never again be more branches in the UK than there are today. And third, the pace of technological change will continue to accelerate, and will never again be as slow as it today.

So, what does this mean for jobs?

Redundancies have been relentless in the industry since even before the financial crisis of 2008. The number of employees has more than halved in Lloyds Banking Group since it was created in 2009. We expect TSB to pass the same milestone by the end of 2024, which will have happened since 2013.

For too long, we’ve seen talented people leaving the industry because of business restructures even though we know that their experience and skills could have been put to good use if only more effort had been made to help them find a new role or career path.

This takes its toll on the remaining staff who are left worrying about where the axe will fall next and, if it is on them, about what redundancy compensation they’ll receive.

This isn’t only an issue about fair treatment. There’s a clear business case for reskilling and strategic workforce planning. As a 2022 report from the Financial Services Skills Commission said:

Technological advancement and changes to the way businesses operate and people work is driving rapid change in the skills requirements for the financial services workforce. 20.8% of the UK workforce in the sector – or 229,000 workers – are at risk of displacement. Redundancies with all the associated costs are a real possibility for workers whose roles might become obsolete.

It goes on:

Reskilling helps reduce people costs and mitigate important risks, with a positive impact on the bottom line. Reskilling also helps mitigate risks from digital transformation, regulation and reputation, leaving the business in a stronger position overall.
Read the 2022 report from the Financial Services Skills Commission

A new approach

These realities have led to a rethink of the approach to business restructures in Lloyds Banking Group and extensive engagement with Accord and Unite from September 2021 through to February 2023.

Through this period of tough negotiations, Accord was able to reach agreement on a more secure future for our members in Lloyds Banking Group and generous redundancy terms to be used as a last resort.

As Accord’s Ged Nichols said at the time:

We’ve worked hard to deliver a new career movement policy that invests in your skills and abilities and how you can continue to contribute to the success of the business – not only when it needs to change, but also when you want to explore a different role or career path. And a new redundancy policy that provides certainty for colleagues who, as a very last resort, must leave.

As you’d expect, we’ve built in protection arrangements that make sure you’re treated fairly as your role changes over time and your career develops across the breadth of the business. These include salary and benefit protections and robust appeal arrangements if you feel you’re not being treated fairly or in accordance with the spirit of the new policies.

If there’s no option other than redundancy, the negotiations deliver some key improvements, including the confirmation of heritage terms, enhancements to LBG 2012 terms and a better deal for MBNA colleagues.

There’s also a new set of terms for when a colleague is offered a reasonable alternative role or reskilling opportunity but unreasonably declines it. These colleagues will still have some financial protection if they choose to leave.

In TSB, discussions have continued on security of employment issues and 2024 looks to be a big year as the bank seeks to address its cost / income ratio.

Of course, the continuing pace of change in the industry is still going to be unsettling for many colleagues. But we hope that members can see that these arrangements offer improved job security and new opportunities for career growth, as well as increased certainty if there is no alternative to redundancy.

As a union, we’ll continue to stand up for our members, defend job security and ensure a continued focus on using members’ skills, both for your job security and for the sustainability and success of LBG and TSB.

If you have something to say in response to this article, you can email [email protected]

The Financial Services Skills report in quotes

There is also a social responsibility for large businesses to retain workers in organisations and reskilling often allows this to happen. In addition, reskilling can bring a range of wider benefits from delivering on strategy, improving management culture and workforce agility.

Through reskilling individuals who would have been made redundant can fill the roles that would otherwise have required external hires creating multiple cost savings – up to £49,100 per reskilled worker.

People costs are reduced through cost savings, by avoiding redundancy and recruitment as well as increased productivity.

Accord conference 2024 | 18th - 19th April | Glasgow

We're excited to announce we’ll be heading to Glasgow in April for Accord's biennial delegate conference.

The event will be held at the Hilton Hotel in Glasgow from the morning of Thursday 18th April to lunch time on Friday 19th April.

We're returning to an in-person event and have invited reps to attend conference and represent members in their workplace.

Conference is the biggest and most important event in our calendar. It sets Accord’s agenda for the next two years.

We’ve added our Conference 2024 web page where you can find all the information you need. For now, we’ve added the basics. But we’ll be updating it regularly as plans progress. And we’ll also be rolling out a Conference 2024 app which all attendees will have access to.

Motions

Don’t miss your chance to make a difference to our policies and objectives for the next two years.

It’s time for members and reps to start talking in your workplace about issues that matter to you, as we invite you to submit motions for debate.

If you’re unsure of how to write a motion, we’ve included some tips on the Conference 2024 web page. You can have a look at the motions submitted for the last conference too.

The closing date for submitting motions is 5pm on Wednesday 20th March 2024.

If you have any queries about conference or submitting motions, please email [email protected].   

Submit a motion for debate
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Communisis enters administration

Our members in Communisis didn’t get the break they expected over the Christmas period as their employer, Communisis, went into Administration on 28th December 2023.

Many Communisis employees were made redundant with immediate effect.

Part of the Communisis business, including many of our members’ jobs, was saved by Paragon who bought some areas of the business through the administration process. This includes the work performed for Lloyds Banking Group – handling approximately 100 million customer communications annually. This was at least welcome news. 

Accord’s Chris Rimell says: 

 

The speed at which Communisis collapsed was disappointing as was the lack of communication with us on what was happening. We know that this has created a great deal of uncertainty for many people. It’s a terrible experience to find out you’re redundant with no notice and we’ve been doing what we can to support those affected.

Lloyds Banking Group outsourced its print and mail function to Communisis in 2013 and 2014. Accord has continued to represent members and negotiate collectively since the transfer. We’ll keep working with the new management team in Paragon to protect our members interests.

Legal claim for loss of consultation

Dallas McMillan logo

In ordinary circumstances there’s legal protection in place which requires an employer to consult with unions and/or employees when making more than 20 people redundant.

The Administrators tasked with dealing with Communisis’ affairs made staff redundant without a period of consultation. We’ve therefore instructed our legal team at Dallas McMillan to file a claim for compensation on our members’ behalf.

David McElroy at Dallas McMillan Solicitors says:

 

Regardless of the circumstances, because the redundancies in Communisis happened without consultation, there is a right to claim compensation. Accord is right to raise a claim on behalf of its members

We’re inviting other ex-Communisis employees who aren’t a member of a union to join Accord today and add their name to our legal claim.

Protect the right to strike - TUC logo

Defending the Right to Strike

On Saturday, 27th January, thousands of trade unionists took part in a national demonstration in Cheltenham, defending the fundamental right to strike.

The march was part of the union movement’s continuing campaign against the government’s anti-strike legislation, introduced last year. These draconian regulations mean that when workers lawfully vote to strike in health, education, fire, transport, border security and nuclear decommissioning, they could be forced to attend work by their employers and sacked if they don’t comply. The law means that 5.5 million workers – or one in five of the UK workforce – could lose their right to strike.

In December, the TUC held a special Congress to discuss how the movement should challenge the anti-strike laws going forward. The Congress agreed to continue a campaign of opposition and non-compliance, and to support workers and unions targeted by the legislation.

Unions have warned that, as well as undermining the fundamental right to strike, the new laws will also prolong disputes by poisoning the relationships between workers and their employers. According to TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak, the laws are “undemocratic, unworkable and likely illegal.”

The regulations have drawn widespread criticism from civil rights organisations, international bodies and businesses. And the Scottish and Welsh governments, along with many mayors and council leaders, have said they will do everything in their power to avoid issuing work notices to workers on strike.

Rally in Cheltenham

Forty years ago, Margaret Thatcher’s Conservative government attacked trade union rights at GCHQ, mainly affecting workers based in Cheltenham. Union members were told to resign their membership or be sacked. 14 refused to do so and lost their jobs, beginning a 13-year campaign which drew huge support from across the trade union movement. The campaign only ended when a Labour government lifted the ban in 1997.

That’s why the union movement returned to Cheltenham in January this year, with thousands of workers marching through the town again to defend the right to strike.

More on the right to strike

Quotes on the right to strike

Minimum service levels (MSLs) are a direct attack on working people’s rights to fair pay and decent work. They are an ideological assault on workers’ and trade unions’ rights which are intended to further inhibit the fundamental right to strike. This attempt to silence workers’ voices and reduce their power sits alongside wider attacks on all of our democratic rights.

TUC General Council Statement on the Minimum Service Levels Act

The Conservatives’ anti-strike laws have been designed to escalate disputes – not resolve them. They will only poison industrial relations and worsen disputes. This draconian legislation is a brazen attack on the right to strike. It’s unworkable, undemocratic and likely in breach of international law.

Paul Nowak, TUC General Secretary

The government’s proposals for minimum service levels in the event of strike action would place severe and unacceptable restrictions on the fundamental right of a worker to take industrial action to defend their pay and conditions. They are unfair, undemocratic, and likely to put the UK in breach of our international legal commitments. Crucially, they would make disputes harder to solve and lead to more frequent and longer strikes.

Joint statement by 14 mayors and council leaders, including Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham and Tracy Brabin

Be in no doubt, the Scottish government will never issue or enforce a single work notice, we will continue to do everything we can to oppose this disgraceful legislation.

Humza Yousaf, Scottish First Minister

From social media

Two young men shaking hands - a new deal for working people

Three in four young employees are missing out on essential workplace rights

Nearly three-quarters of employees aged between 16 and 24 are missing out on key employment rights like redundancy pay and protection from unfair dismissal, according to new research from the TUC.

Under current employment legislation, many workplace rights only kick in after two years of continuous service with an employer. This disproportionately affects younger employees, who are far less likely to have built up two years of service. A large majority (72%) of the youngest workers don’t qualify for all employment rights, compared to around one in four (27%) of working people aged 25 and over.

“Every worker should be protected from being sacked for no reason,” said TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak, commenting on the research. “But young workers can be fired at will by bad bosses. Just imagine working hard in a job for nearly two years – only to be let go with no recourse.”

Low pay, unemployment and zero-hours contracts

The research also found that young workers are more than five times more likely to be on zero-hours contracts than those aged twenty-five and over. Young women and young BME people are particularly likely to be on zero hours.

These contracts usually involve low pay and unreliable hours. And zero-hours workers don’t have access to essential employment rights and benefits, like maternity and paternity pay, or the right to return to the same job after maternity leave.

Across the board, young workers aren’t being paid a fair rate for their work. Median hourly pay for 16 to 17-year-olds is £8 per hour and £10.90 for 18 to 21-year-olds, compared to £15.83 for all employees. This is partly because the National Living Wage (currently £10.42 per hour) does not kick in until an employee is 23.

What’s more, young workers are nearly three times as likely as older workers to be unemployed. One in eight young people (12.3%) are without a job despite actively seeking work and being available to start.

A new deal for young workers

To ensure that young workers get a fair shot in the workplace, the TUC believes that a dramatic overhaul of employment legislation is needed.

Paul pointed to the steps outlined in Labour’s proposed ‘New Deal for Working People’, saying that the plans “would be life-changing for younger workers.”

He went on:

 

It would give them a secure contract – so they knew how many hours they’d work each week. It would stop fire at will – making sure every worker is protected from unfair sacking from day one in the job. It would make sure they were entitled to maternity and paternity pay when they have kids. And it would give them a chance to work for a decent future.

The New Deal proposals include:

  • a ban on zero-hours contracts;
  • day one rights on the job for all workers;
  • removal of the discriminatory age bands from the minimum wage to ensure every adult worker benefits from fair pay;
  • a guarantee that all workers get reasonable notice of any change in shifts or working time, with compensation that is proportionate to the notice given for any shifts cancelled or curtailed;
  • strengthened flexible working rights, including a day one right to work flexibly;
  • strengthened collective bargaining with fair pay agreements to boost pay and conditions – starting in social care;
  • beefed up enforcement, making sure that labour market enforcement bodies have the powers they need to undertake targeted and proactive enforcement work;
  • mandatory disability and ethnicity pay gap reporting; and
  • a ban on unpaid internships.
72%
of the youngest workers don’t qualify for all employment rights