TSB has said: “travelling between branches should remain within the current guidelines of no more than one branch a day and no more than 3 branches in a week”.
The bank’s policy is creating too much stress and anxiety, and it needs to accept that some branches will close during the lockdown. It can’t be avoided. Forcing staff – who are anxious about their own health, and the safety of their families – to move between up to 3 branches a week is not the answer. There is also suspicion that staff are being moved just to keep the best performing branches open, especially on Saturdays. Equally, staff are also concerned that being forced to move between branches will become the ‘new normal’ once the pandemic is over.
TSB needs to revisit this policy quickly.
In Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland staff have been told that they: “will work from one branch only, unless needed as ‘critical resource’, to open and run another branch”.
In our last Newsletter, we said TSB stands accused of breaching the Coronavirus Health Protection Regulations by refusing to change its retail offering to customers during the current lockdown. A copy of the letters we have sent to the Mr. Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA and Rt Hon. Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy can be found here.
Letter To Mr. Nikhil Rathi, Chief Executive of the FCA
Letter To Rt Hon. Alok Sharma, Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
Pay 2021
TSB’s 2021 pay award is going to be more important than ever before. The bank has already implied that bonuses will be reduced this year, although we would still expect the continued efforts of TSB staff during one of the most difficult years on record to be reflected in a significant, one-off bonus.
We also hope TSB will use next year’s pay round as an opportunity to drive staff pay closer to the rate for their job. Anything else would be totally unacceptable. Equally, we hope that the union that likes to say ‘Yes’ to everything – Accord – holds out for a little longer than the 30 seconds it takes the bank to make its first pay offer.
‘Naff Off’
We are also aware that Accord’s membership levels in TSB are falling so fast that it’s resorting to bribing its members to recruit their colleagues by offering them a one-off payment of £15 or £150 if they recruit 10 members. We suspect that TSB will be paying for this incentive, either directly or indirectly.
Members who are approached by Accord recruiters should very politely decline the offer. There is a reason why Accord’s membership levels are falling and that’s because it’s in the bank’s back pocket. TSB staff want an independent trade union that will speak truth to power. Not an organisation that runs for the hills at the first sign of trouble.
Members with any questions should contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 716029 (Choose Option 1).