As members now know the Union is changing the brand name it uses in TSB to “The Banking Union”; using “TBU” as the short version.
The background to the change is that Lloyds Banking Group has threatened legal action to stop us using the word “Lloyds” in our name. Members will recall that TSB tried something similar a few years ago and our expectation was that it was only a matter of time before TSB made the same move as Lloyds.
We have taken Lloyds move as the clearest possible sign of our effectiveness. After all, if we were not an effective campaigning force Lloyds would not have bothered. But, given Shakespeare’s warning that lawyers “straight dream on fees”, we felt sure that you would want us to spend your money looking after your interests rather than fighting over a name; in a case in which the only winners would be the lawyers!
Putting It In Context
During our recognition discussions it became clear that TSB was not interested in having a relationship with an independent trade union that both put the interests of its members first and was unafraid to say what it thought on the key issues affecting staff. Instead, TSB showed that it was determined to promote trade unions that said nothing and, more importantly, did even less.
Since 2015 the Union has carried on looking after its members interests, both individually and collectively, and we will continue to do that regardless of what we are called. The union is pursuing legal action on behalf of TBU members over holiday pay and we have recently won or begun important Employment Tribunal cases. The biggest pension discrimination case in the last 20 years will be heard in the High Court in July. That case, brought originally by TBU, will affect thousands of TSB staff who transferred from Lloyds Banking Group.
None of this will have made us any more popular with the Banks.