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Staff at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have launched a formal petition for union recognition following concerns they have with the regulator’s leadership.
Unite, the union for finance sector staff, has called on the City regulator to hear the concerns of its workforce as the union sees a significant growth in membership at the regulator.
The union has launched a staff petition to secure the right to be formally recognised to represent workers across the organisation – the first time this has happened in the organisation’s history following the massive growth in staff joining the union.
Unite said this is the latest step by the union after months of “growing disenchantment” with the FCA’s new leadership team, which has launched a consultation on changes to pay and grading as part of new CEO Nikhil Rathi’s transformation plans.
Staff argue the proposals will result in three out of four of them facing having their pay reduced by 10%. However, the changes are unlikely to affect the FCA’s leadership team. Most are new in post, appointed by Rathi, who joined as CEO from the London Stock Exchange less than a year ago.
Unite said that FCA staff have told its representatives that staff morale has been negatively impacted with the recent changes and that as such recruitment has been outpaced by the rate of resignations at the regulator.
Dominic Hook, Unite national officer said: “Staff across the FCA are joining Unite in unprecedented numbers and want their voices heard. The significant growth in trade union membership demonstrates that the recognition of an independent trade union at the FCA is long overdue.
“Unite is the union for staff across the financial services sector and it is essential for the regulator to ensure that this dedicated workforce have an independent and strong trade union in their corner, rather than simply being ignored by management.”
He added: “Staff at the FCA are demoralised by the consultation launched by the CEO in September and feel it is a poor way to reward FCA staff who worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic to deliver credit card and mortgage payment holidays that were a lifeline to people up and down the country.”
