Unite: RBS management and regulatory failure cost 30,000 jobs
Ahead of the Treasury Select Committee's report over the conduct of the FSA in the catastrophic failure of RBS, Unite, Britain's biggest union says the reckless folly of RBS management and lax regulation cost 30,000 jobs and four years of constant attacks on staff pay, conditions and pensions.
The consequences of the collapse included;
Contributing to one of the worst global recessions in living memory.
30,000 UK jobs being lost at RBS alone since the bank collapsed.
Lifetime savings of RBS staff in share schemes have been wiped out by the share price crash.
4 years of attacks on terms and conditions, pensions, severance terms, employee benefits and wage freezes.
Stressed staff being forced to work tirelessly to return RBS to standalone strength, who were in no way responsible for the near bankruptcy of the group, yet they will receive little or no reward for RBS' eventual return to health.
4 years after the recapitalisation taxpayers are funding massive bonus pots for the executives. In the investment business senior executives received a pot worth £390 million for 2011 alone.
Unite assistant general secretary, Gail Cartmail said:
" Catastrophic management at RBS while the FSA's back was turned contributed to the worst global recession in living memory and cost 30,000 jobs at the bank alone.
"RBS staff have endured four years of stress and overwork and their reward has been four years of attacks on their jobs, pay, conditions and pensions.
"The message is simple the collapse of our banking system can not be allowed to happen again. The government, the FSA, the Bank of England and the banks must act to transform a banking system that was so often 'socially useless' into one that works for the good of society rather than for the greed of the few."
ENDS
Contact: Ciaran Naidoo on 07768 931 315
Notes to editors: Unite is Britain and Ireland’s largest trade union with 1.5 million members working across all sectors of the economy. The general secretary is Len McCluskey.
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