Jobs threat at RBS

On 26 August RBS announced a restructuring plan that will result in the closure of 14 insurance sites and the loss of 2,000 jobs. Hardest hit in the current announcement will be the Direct Line Atlantic Quay centre in Glasgow, where at least 400 jobs will go, and Cardiff Tyndall Street office with the loss of approximately 300 workers.

A Bristol call centre worker (Unite)

In Bristol, Cathedral Square and St James Court - employing nearly 800 - are slated for closure by the end of 2012.

Workers are to be offered the option of relocation to the "centres of excellence" RBS intends to create in its remaining sites, one of which will be the Broad St Office in Bristol. The Broad St Office currently employs about 860.

Already, preparations for future changes have seen an increasing workload for existing staff, with higher volumes of calls and stiffening regulations.

A new work process called "Treating Customers Fairly" (TCF) will see sales workers face as much as 30% deductions from their bonus pay for failing to meet standards. These have become more stringent over the past year.

RBS in Bristol has been advertising jobs for call centre staff. Many of these new workers will come into the company under new work process rules.

Unite, the union that represents call centre workers in the financial sector, has a low profile, and many call centre workers- who tend to be young- remain outside the union.

Unite's RBS national officer Rob MacGregor has said: "RBS staff are continuing to pay the price for the bank's failure by losing their jobs... the company should note Unite will hold RBS to account over any compulsory job losses."

MacGregor did not elaborate on what the union would do in the face of these compulsory job losses.

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In The Socialist 1 September 2010:

A fightback can stop cuts