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Story URL: http://www.silicon.com/research/specialreports/offshoring/0,3800003026,39121828,00.htm

Amicus threatens to strike over offshoring
HSBC set to be the first target

By Ron Coates

Published: Thursday 01 July 2004

Delegates from the finance workers' section of trade union Amicus are meeting today in Scarborough to vote on industrial action over offshoring by banks and finance companies.

Union officials are confident that the delegates will vote for the 'any means necessary strategy.'

An Amicus spokesman said: "I'm confident the 'any means necessary' motion will be passed. This will be the platform for action across the industry as we expect major job losses in a number of large institutions.

"The delegates from workers at HSBC will meet on Saturday to decide what action they will take against the announced 3,500 job losses there."

They will have a range of options including work-to-rule, overtime bans and selective strikes.

The union says that HSBC staff are showing 'increasing unrest' at having to rectify mistakes made by overseas back-office operations. It is planning a summer of discontent as it targets one bank after another.

David Fleming, Amicus national officer has said: "You can almost taste the anger amongst workers who have seen executive pay and benefits go through the roof and have paid for it with wage freezes, pension scheme cuts and the fear that their job is going to be offshored half way round the world."

This month, Amicus merged with Unifi to form a 250,000-strong single union.

HSBC recently announced that it would be cutting 3,500 jobs in the UK, on top of the 4,000 jobs that it said late last year it would be transferring overseas.