Lloyds Bank to stop recognising senior employees’ union membership

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Lloyds Banking Group will stop recognising the trade union membership of its highest-paid employees, replacing union negotiations with “people forums” to discuss issues ranging from job cuts and pay to health and safety.

In a memo sent to all staff last month, Lloyds, which has about 60,000 employees, said it had “reached a new agreement” with trade unions Unite and Accord.

This will change how the group “[consults] on collective matters such as organisational change, policies, reward and health and safeties,” the memo said. The high-street bank is instead introducing three “new colleague forums to replace our current collective union agreement”.

The move to stop recognising union membership comes as Lloyds entered into a new “skills agreement” with Accord and Unite to “address the challenges from shifting customer demands, technological advancements and changes in the world of work”, the memo said.

The group is more than halfway into a £4bn strategic overhaul which involves digitising its operations to cut costs and boost returns. The bank has already reviewed thousands of middle-management jobs.

The changes will affect staff in higher-paid jobs in “grades D-G”, which include specialist roles in IT, risk and finance. Of those, 80 per cent are not members of either union, the bank said.

Lloyds said the group was adapting to “continue to meet our customers’ ever evolving needs” and was working closely with the unions to implement the changes from January.

“We’ve agreed new arrangements with Accord and Unite, following industry best practice, that will mean fairer representation across all colleagues, including for those who are not union members,” the bank said, adding the changes would help it to “continue to be an enjoyable, highly productive and rewarding place to work”.

As part of the change, Lloyds will from January introduce a “People Forum” made of up of 16 unelected members who will be consulted by management on “strategic matters related to our business”.

The bank will also introduce a “People Consultation Forum” made up of 28 elected members who will be consulted on “organisation change, health and safety arrangements” and pension plans. It will also bring forward a “Management Advisory Forum” of 17 elected staff to “provide feedback” to management.

Accord general secretary Ged Nichols said union density had fallen over time as a result of acquisitions, branch closures and recruitment in the less heavily unionised tech sector.

“Despite all of this, union membership is high in [lower grades] in Lloyds Banking Group and not insignificant in other grades,” Nichols said. “Independent trade unions can provide more for employees than employer led forums will ever be able to.”

Lloyds’ new policy around union membership also comes as the newly elected Labour government plans to give unions in the workplace more influence by lowering the threshold for recognition to just 2 per cent of staff.

Lloyds chief executive Charlie Nunn has been broadly supportive of the Labour government, with the bank having sponsored its International Investment Summit last month.