How much do you think TSB paid David Schwimmer, the American actor, to front its new advertising campaign? We ask because TSB is currently deciding the 2021 pay increase and bonus payments for staff. The outcome of those internal discussions will be announced shortly.

We suspect that for Mr Schwimmer you are not going to get much change out of £1 million. Will his character in the adverts resonate with those 67% of TSB customers who are the ‘Aspiring Middle’, many of whom will be struggling financially during the pandemic? We think not. Time will tell whether those adverts and the campaign generally, which looks and feels as though it copies the recent EE phone adverts, have been successful. We believe that the money could have been put to better use.

With little or no bonus awards, the 2021 pay award is going to be more important than ever before for TSB staff. In the past – when inflation was higher than the pay pot – the bank said inflation was not a factor it took into account when deciding pay. It would be wrong and hypocritical of TSB to use inflation as an excuse to reduce the size of the pay pot and pay increases for staff this year. The Retail Price Index, which is the measure of inflation used for negotiating pay increases, is currently 1.2%. A pay pot of less than 1.2% means TSB salaries will be rising slower than the increases in the goods and services we all use every day. We would also urge TSB to use this year’s pay round as an opportunity to drive staff pay closer to the rate for their job. And let us not forget, TSB staff have had the worst pay increases of any bank or financial services company for the last few years.

We hope the bank supported staff unions don’t cave in and accept the first offer on the table, like they have done in the past. Given that they depend on TSB’s patronage for their existence our hopes for that are not high!

We will keep members informed of developments.

Branch Staff & Closing Early

A number of senior managers in TSB have been saying that branch staff in other banks are not being allowed to go home early but are being expected to do other work; the implication being TSB branch staff are being treated exactly the same: that’s not true. Apart from a small number of staff who have volunteered to help out telephone banking, the vast majority of branch staff in Lloyds Banking Group leave work at 2.15pm. We are aware that branch staff in other banks are also leaving early.

TSB is the only major bank which is closing its branches early but making its staff work until 5pm.

Members with any questions should contact the Union’s Advice Team on 01234 716029 (choose Option 1).

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