Industrial Action Ballot Opens Today

Monday, August 1st, 2016

Unite members who work at Prudential, Reading in the Individual Annuities area are being balloted for Industrial Action to save their jobs being offshored to Mumbai.

The company intends to move the vast majority of the work to India between now and 1st quarter 2017 with the loss of approximately 75 jobs in Reading.

Prudential have rejected a counter proposal from Unite which would have saved the jobs in Reading. Unite believe the proposals are unnecessary and will have a detrimental impact on the customer experience.

As a result Unite are balloting it’s members for Industrial Action and are recommending members vote Yes.

The results will be known on 15th August.

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Notice of Industrial Action Ballot

Wednesday, July 20th, 2016

We have today provided Prudential UK notice of our intention to ballot for Industrial Action in our individual Annuities area in our 121 Kings Road, Reading office.

This is in response to the Company’s proposal to migrate the work to Mumbai with the potential loss of up to 88 roles.

Voting papers will be sent out on 1st August 2016.

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Ongoing Consultations

Monday, June 13th, 2016

Please see below an update on some of the business changes that Unite are currently engaged in across the Prudential Business Areas.

Annuities – Reading

On 26th May, 82 employees in Annuities, Reading were put at Risk at of redundancy. Consultation with Unite had started on 25th May where we were presented with the Company’s proposal to move some work from Reading to Craigforth and the vast majority to PPMS in Mumbai. The rationale is drop in volumes, improved technology, increased efficiencies and, of course, cost.

We have been involved in a number of meetings with members and the Company and the consultation process will run until mid-July.

Following our meetings with members we have advised the Company we will be resisting these proposals and we will continue to talk to members on the best way to do that. A copy of the Unite Press Release following the announcement can be found on our website www.prusection.co.uk

PGDS

The long awaited re-structure announcement finally took place on 1st June. 56 roles will be lost across PGDS and the PMO team (4 people) will be transferred to PPMS in Mumbai.

PGDS have introduced a targeted VR exercise whereby people in the teams impacted can volunteer for redundancy.

Following meetings with our members we have advised PGDS that we can accept the voluntary process but will resist any compulsory redundancies in this re-structure. From our analysis we believe the reduction can be achieved via the voluntary route. We have also requested that should any of the 4 PMO members want to stay PGDS find them a post.

We still have concerns about the impact this scale of cuts will have on the people left in PGDS and the impact it will have on the customers PGDS are there to serve. Consultations on all this are ongoing and again we will continue to hold regular members meetings in all PGDS sites to keep them updated on the consultations.

Finance

The re-structure of Grade 3’s has now been completed and Unite are supporting those members who were unsuccessful in the selection process. This includes the options and terms for those individuals who want to stay within Finance albeit in a Grade 2 role.

We are also still in discussion with HR in relation to the G1 & G2 mapping process which is due to be completed by the end of June.

As you can imagine this is a very busy time for your reps who are working very hard on your behalf so apologies if it has taken slightly longer to respond to some of your queries.

Unite are concerned with the scale of some of these announcements and with the re-emergence of Off-Shoring as a way of cutting costs. We don’t believe Off-shoring makes the Company more efficient than keeping the work in the UK and we don’t believe it will improve Customer Service. We are concerned that offshoring will lead to a loss of knowledge and experience just to cut costs and it is not something our members will simply accept.

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Report from PGDS Members Meetings

Monday, June 13th, 2016

Unite held members meetings in all sites last week and below are the key collective items that were discussed. We have subsequently met with HR and fed these back and the actions arising from them are also detailed below. We will contact those members who raised specific issues related to themselves and their teams directly.

Announcement Process & Timing

Some members felt the timing of both Charlie’s statement and the re-structure announcement was cynical coming so soon after the successful DR test weekend. Whilst acknowledging that at least some of the uncertainty has been removed the timescales now seemed rushed, and some communication poor and inconsistent. The ‘pack B’ letters contained errors which has caused confusion in relation to timescales and deadlines.

We have fed all this back. HR advised that PGDS was only given the green light on the Thursday prior to the announcement and that they announced as soon as they could afterwards. They have apologised for errors in letters and have issued a new timeline this week to clarify the position.

In response to member enquiries we asked if a transcript or audio copy of Charlie’s end of May briefing could be made available. PGDS will be publishing the key points set out in the briefing this week for the benefit of those who were unable to join the briefing call.

VR process

Overall, members welcome the fact that they will be doing this via a VR process, although there has been some mixed messages from managers about people being able to apply. The Unite position is very clear and we explained it to the Company at our consultation meeting last Thursday. We believe they can achieve the headcount reduction using the VR process alone. Therefore, we will resist any move to go down the Compulsory Redundancy route and have advised that if volunteers are rejected and areas then move into a process that results in CR we will go back to members asking them what they want us to do next.

Members are concerned with the short timescales on volunteering for VR. We spoke to the Company about this and individuals who want an extension should ask and those that have asked have been given an extension. However, they do want to proceed fairly quickly so they avoid any process going into the holiday period and we understand that outcomes will be known by the 17th June.

Offshoring

There was genuine shock at the proposed Offshoring of the PMO team. (Incidentally, this shock is also shared by people outside of PGDS). The Unite position, agreed with the members in the area, is that if any member in that team want to remain in PGDS they should be found a role. We have therefore told the Company that Unite will not accept any Compulsory Redundancy as a result of this piece of Offshoring and will go back to our members with a view to ballot for action should that situation arise.

Core Server Support Services

The scale of change in this area is very high and it is not clear where people would sit within the new structure. Members are therefore telling us that they can’t make an informed decision regarding VR within the deadlines as there is no clarity. We have fed this back and we understand that individuals in the team have had conversations with the manager to better understand their situation and the deadline for VR was extended until 13th for this team. PGDS has reiterated the statements that have previously been made regarding future roles within CSS and has said in many cases there will be no change to individuals’ existing responsibilities albeit their manager may change as a result of the streamlining programme. If any instances where role responsibilities do change there will be full discussion with the individuals concerned before any implementation takes place. PGDS has also confirmed that if necessary they will also consult with Unite on the proposed changes.

Impact on Company Benefits

A number of people asked questions in relation to what happens to their benefits should they be made redundant eg, Share Options, Season Ticket Loans, pensions. A Q&A has been produced covering these topics.

Individual Consultation Meetings

There was some confusion around the consultation meetings members were having with their managers. It has been confirmed that these are INFORMAL consultations hence the reason members weren’t given the opportunity to ask for representation at these meetings. We also clarified that for those people in Pack A you are “At Risk of redundancy”, those in Pack B are “Potentially At Risk of redundancy”. This is because if the requisite number of volunteers come forward in a team it then becomes Out of Scope as the headcount reduction will have been achieved.

Future Delivery

Members raised concerns that once the numbers have been met how will PGDS meets its obligations to deliver a service to the customers. This is a serious issue for Unite and we share these concerns. We will continue to pursue this and also what impact the reduction of heads has on the remaining staff in terms of ability to take holiday, retaining existing part-time hours and will keep you informed as consultation progresses.

1st Phase?

We have asked for confirmation that this change is not Phase 1 of a rolling change programme but the final phase. We have been advised that there are currently no further plans for restructuring but that PGDS will strive to continually improve; and this includes its structure and processes.

Operators Agreement

Some members may be aware that we have a separate collective agreement covering the Operators terms and conditions. As a result of the proposed changes in this area that agreement will need re-negotiating. No work has started on this as yet but we are asking the Company for this to commence quickly so members in that area can get some clarity on the impact the proposals will have on them and their terms and conditions.

These were the main themes that came out of the meetings. If you have any questions on any of the above please email unite@prudential.co.uk or contact Wendy, Jim or Steve.

We will be holding another round of members meetings w/c 20th June and details of those will be emailed to you in the next few days.

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Unite Reaction to Reading Annuities Announcement

Friday, May 27th, 2016

Following the announcement in Reading on 26th May which saw 82 Prudential employees in the Reading Annuities area put at risk of redundancy Unite Finance Sector have issued a press release.

The proposals which are subject to consultation will see some work moving to Craigforth, some remaining in Reading but the vast majority moving to Mumbai.

The press release says:-

Prudential, the life insurance and financial services giant, has announced plans to offshore up to 80 UK jobs from Reading to Mumbai, India, said Unite, the trade union for UK finance workers.

81 workers in the Individual Annuities division, which handles servicing and bereavements, have been told that their jobs are to be moved out of Reading. While a minority of these roles will transfer to Prudential’s site in Craigforth, Scotland the vast majority will be offshored to India.

Following this news Unite will begin a 45 day consultation period with the employer. Throughout this process the union will reiterate its total opposition to offshoring, which is used by multinational finance firms to drive down the wages, terms and conditions of the workforce.

Pending the results of the consultation, the company anticipate that offshoring could begin as early as October 2016.

The job cuts in Reading are the latest wave of insurance sector job losses to impact areas surrounding London. In Surrey both Legal & General and Diligenta have announced plans to either close operations or cut jobs, as companies chase short-term savings by transferring work away from the London commuter belt.

Dominic Hook, Unite National Officer for Finance, said:

“Prudential knows full well that offshoring is a toxic issue. That’s why transferring a handful of public-facing jobs to Scotland will be used as a smoke screen to hide the fact that the majority of this highly technical and skilled work will go offshore.

Behind the buzzwords used to justify the decision is the fact that Prudential want to pay someone in Mumbai far less to do the same work. Offshoring is cynical, exploitative and ultimately it will be the firm’s customers who will pay the price.

“Unite will stand with our members in Reading and as we prepare to enter consultation we warn Prudential that nothing is off then table when it comes to defending our members.”

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