Trade Union attacks RBS and Lloyds over “brutal” job cuts

Unite trade union has written to the government’s UKFI banking body to express its anger at the latest round of job cuts at part-nationalized banks Lloyds (LLOY.L) and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L).

Unite said on Tuesday that the two banks had in total announced another 1,764 job cuts, with Lloyds bearing the brunt with 1,300 cuts. RBS is cutting 464 posts at a private banking arm, Unite added.

Trade unions have sought to highlight the contrast in the fortunes of many banks’ branch staff, that have faced job cuts and low wage growth, with that of their boardroom directors, who have still pocketed multi-million pound bonuses.
“The announcement of 1,764 job cuts in these taxpayer supported institutions today is truly brutal. How can there be any justification for the Government not intervening as these much needed jobs are lost from our struggling economy,” Unite national officer David Fleming said in a statement. Lloyds said in a statement that the latest cuts related to a job-cutting program first announced last year, in which Chief Executive Antonio Horta-Osorio said the company would axe 15,000 jobs and halve its international presence, Reuters reported.

Britain owns around 82 percent of RBS and 40 percent of Lloyds after bailing out both banks with taxpayers’ money during the 2008 credit crisis.