FCA staff vote to support industrial action

Staff at the FCA voted last week on taking action over concerns about cost-cutting at the regulator. 

The ballot closed on Monday with 87% of staff voting yes on the industrial action ballot.

Tensions continue to build between staff and management at the FCA, and unless a negotiated settlement is reached Unite can now proceed to a full industrial action ballot.

Sharon Graham, general secretary at Unite, said: “The employees are telling FCA bosses that the proposed changes are damaging and destroying any remaining goodwill the staff had. It is time for the FCA management to come to the negotiating table and ensure they avoid damaging the important work of the regulator. Unite will sit down and negotiate through ACAS as soon as the FCA agrees; the ball is in FCA’s court now.

“While the proposed cuts at the regulator is good news for fraudsters and rip-off merchants it is bad news for people with savings, loans, mortgages and pensions as experienced and committed staff are being forced out of the door. The new FCA CEO, Nikhil Rathi, should be waging war on malpractice in the financial sector, not on his own staff.”

The proposed cost cuts championed by FCA CEO Nikhil Rathi include pay cuts for staff.

Unite, the union representing staff, said the proposed cost-cutting measures would turn the FCA into a “bargain basement” regulator.

It said members have shared fears over an appraisal system which “punishes strong performers.”

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It said management are imposing “an unfair appraisal system” which requires managers to “arbitrarily downgrade” a set number of their employees even if they are performing strongly. Unite said current indications are that this system will hit carers, disabled people and minority ethnic staff hardest.

Unite said other key concerns of staff include a “botched” and rushed consultation with management rushing to implement changes without giving staff crucial information.

It said that by abolishing bonuses, the FCA was imposing a 10-12% pay cut for the majority of staff who considered the bonuses part of their basic pay.

Staff outside of London are also being put on new lower pay scales, which Unite says flies in the face of the Government’s stated agenda of “levelling-up.”

Unite added that pay rises for the FCA’s lowest-paid staff were a “gesture seen as a cynical attempt to buy off opposition” by its members.

Unite said experienced employees, “have been quitting the regulator in droves” with more expected to follow. A recent survey by the union found 89.8% of staff described their morale as ‘low’ or ‘very low’.

The union is also currently challenging the FCA on its refusal to allow staff to have representation by an independent trade union.

Unite said there is significant growth in trade union membership across all departments of the FCA.

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