Unions slam job cuts

Financial services unions have hit out at the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) after it announced that 2,500 jobs were to be cut.

An Amicus spokesman said the union planned to use the consultation period of between 18 months and two years entered into by CIS to "fight for every single job".

But the spokesman said the CIS announcement was a good example of a consultation period that would allow unions to negotiate with the insurer.

A joint statement from unions ACTS, Amicus, NACO, Unifi and Usdaw said: "The joint trade unions expressed deep disappointment at the scale of the proposed job losses, and registered their opposition to compulsory redundancies.

"[CIS] stated that their aim was to minimise job losses and maximise the use of measures such as redeployment, retraining opportunities and, where appropriate, voluntary redundancies."

The trade unions also vowed to protect the terms and conditions of employment and pensions for remaining staff.

On 14 July, CIS announced plans to cut up to 2,500 jobs due to a restructuring of its insurance business.

The cuts will affect both the general and life sides of the business.

But the company said that the restructuring could lead to the creation of up to 500 new customer-facing jobs.

According to CIS head of communications Russ Brady, the cuts will be mainly in the back office and support areas of the business.

Brady said: "We do not and will not outsource our client facing services."

He said the total number of job losses would be determined as part of a strategic review which will be conducted to address cutting the cost base at CIS and improving customer service.

The option of outsourcing back office operations would also be looked at during the review process, Brady said.

The potential savings to CIS would only become clear when more details are finalised, he added.

CIS currently employs approximately 9,000 staff throughout the UK, including 3,000 financial advisers.

It has total annual premium and trust income of £1.97bn.