Unite demands ahead of Northern Rock restructuring

1 May 2008

Staff at Northern Rock expect the bank to honour their terms and conditions of employment when formal consultation starts today (Thursday 1st May) on restructuring with Unite the union.

Unite members at the bank are demanding that management acknowledge their responsibilities to the staff and ensure that any redundancies are managed on a voluntary basis.

Graham Goddard, Unite Deputy General Secretary said:"If downsizing goes ahead, Unite will be demanding that Northern Rock give a commitment to no compulsory redundancies. The workforce did not contribute to the situation which the bank now finds itself in and should not be expected to pay the ultimate price by being forced out of their jobs.

"The union will be arguing strongly that through re-training and redeployment alternatives to compulsory redundancies can be found. There must now be meaningful consultation with Unite ahead of any decisions to make changes to the business. Throughout the last seven months of uncertainty the employees of Northern Rock have remained committed to the long-term success of the company. Decisions must not be made merely in the pursuit of short- term cost savings."

Unite has launched a charter which sets out the union’s expectations for the management of the bank. The principles of the charter demands that the company protect and improve the terms of employment for employees and protects the existing pension arrangements. The union is opposed to any piecemeal selling off of Northern Rock's assets and will not accept any asset stripping of the bank.