Santander UK integration agreement out to ballot
10th December 2012
Members urged to vote 'yes' to major
new agreement
Members throughout Santander UK are being urged to
back a major new draft agreement on the next phase of the
bank's integration that goes out to ballot today (Monday).
Following months of detailed negotiations on wide-ranging proposals
to harmonise terms and conditions across different parts of the
bank, the union is recommending members vote 'yes' to a
deal which secures a number of longstanding CWU objectives.
Crucially the deal on the table - branded 'Santander
Integration Phase 2' - addresses the CWU's dual demands for
an improved pay and grading structure that introduces national pay
progression arrangements for all staff for the first time.
Assistant secretary Nigel Cotgrove
explains: "As well as securing these long cherished CWU aims,
the agreement further integrates terms and conditions across the
various groups of employees from the various financial institutions
that came together to form Santander UK.
"These are important steps forward and the CWU has
successfully ensured that there will be no reductions in pay and
the small number of our members who are paid above their new pay
maximums are protected".
All CWU members in Santander will receive ballot papers imminently
- and, assuming the deal gains membership approval, a new
simplified 'Job Family Framework' will be introduced from
January 2013 that aligns all roles into one of 12 Job Families. The
new framework will enable the pay structure to be further
simplified and from January, there will only be 70 national pay
ranges aligned to the Job Families - as opposed to the 1,000-plus
that currently exist.
The new National Pay Progression Framework will cover over 75% of
roles and mean that the majority of customer-facing colleagues in
both Retail and Customer Operations could benefit from pay
progression from March 1 next year. For those in non-customer
facing roles, pay progression will be based on career paths
designed to accelerate movement through the pay range.
Urging members across Santander to participate in the consultative
ballot - which opens today and closes on December 21 - Nigel
concludes: "The deal on the table achieves a number of things
the CWU has been seeking for a considerable period of time.
"The CWU's national negotiating team is convinced this
draft agreement represents a good deal in a tough time for the
financial sector - and I have no hesitation in whole-heartedly
recommending it to members."
The CWU represents staff in retail, commercial, corporate, customer service and support roles in Santander UK.
The full agreement and a special CWU newsletter outlining the key
components can be viewed on the members-only section of the CWU
website >here<.
