40th Anniversary Outlook
July 30th, 2010
Please see below our 40th Anniversary Outlook detailing our history and some of our achievements.
40th Anniversary
1st July 2010 is the 40th anniversary of Unite Prudential Section and Prudential and we are marking it with a short ceremony, at noon, in 121 Restaurant in Reading attended by amongst others Steve ODonnell, Senior Rep and Cathy Lewis, UKIO HR Director.
To mark the occasion the restaurant are putting on a special Ruby Murray curry meal deal and Unite will have a stand outside the restaurant giving away some goodies and allowing you the opportunity to meet your local reps and join the union.
On 4th July Prudential and Unite have funded a free entry family fund day for all Prudential employees and ex Prudential employees working for Capita.
The start of the relationship
Prior to 1970 Prudential used to have a male staff association and a separate female staff association who represented staff interests.
At the same time Muriel Turner (now Baroness Turner) was deputy General Secretary of the ASTMS (The Association of Scientific, Technical and Managerial Staffs ) union and Clive Jenkins was the General Secretary and they actively looked to increase membership by merging with Staff Associations. Muriel Turner approached both Prudential staff associations and set in train a process where she was able to persuade the union to change its rules to allow for Finance Sector companies to join the union and persuade the staff associations that it would be more effective if they were part of a bigger trade union.
It is true to say that today Unite is the biggest Finance Sector union in the UK and its origins start at the point both Prudential staff associations joined ASTMS.
More History
Since then the union has existed in different guises, in 1988 ASTMS merged with TASS (Technical, Administrative and Supervisory Section), the federated white collar section of the AUEW (Amalgamated Union of Engineering Workers) to form MSF (Manufacturing, Science and Finance). Then on January 1, 2002 MSF was to amalgamate with the AEEU (Amalgamated Engineering and Electrical Union, a successor to AUEW) to form Amicus.
Finally, On 1 May 2007 it merged with the TGWU to form Unite, which is the biggest trade union in the UK.
Throughout this time the union rules have allowed the Prudential Section to continue as originally envisaged with the Prudential members electing its Senior representative, who is a Prudential employee, to lead negotiations with Prudential management. This is a different set up to other Finance companies (including capita) where negotiations are led on union side by Officers of the union, employed by Union. We believe it is this approach that has led to the long and successful relationship.
Achievements
Ultimately the Prudential and Unite Prudential Section have the same goal to ensure that Prudential retains a successful UK business. We may, from time to time, have different views on the best way to achieve this but we work with each other to achieve that goal.
The vast majority of the terms and conditions we enjoy and in some circumstances take for granted have come about as a result of the constructive nature of the relationship. Almost all have been a result of ongoing dialogue between both sides and not through confrontation. Examples include:-
Contractual Holiday entitlement greater than the statutory minimum
Maternity/Adoption & Paternity pay greater than the statutory minimum
Flexible working policy beyond the statutory requirements
Free teas and coffees in UK offices
Enhanced redundancy terms
Furthermore, the Reading site could have experienced a very significant impact if it wasnt for a union campaign back in 2001 which resulted in an agreement to retain many jobs that could otherwise have been offshored to Mumbai.
Of course, we have had our differences, the off shoring campaign being the highest profile in recent years and in 1990 strike action was held over the divisionalisation proposals. Despite these both parties recognised the need to keep the relationship in place so once those differences were resolved we could move forward with our shared objective.
We have also successfully represented countless individuals through grievances, salary appeals, disciplinaries and a host of other issues which everyone hopes wont happen.
Future
Unite and very proud of its relationship with the Prudential and are keen to maintain for at least another 40 years. We continue to discuss and campaign for improvements in terms and conditions including pay transparency, closing of all pay gaps, equal pay and improvements to the DC Pension scheme.
We continue to sit on the Group Health and Safety committee and now also the Group Environment committee to ensure that all employees operate in a safe and sustainable workplace.
We retain our recognition agreements with UKIO, PGDS and Corporate Property, and we do regularly discuss with Prudential how these can be refreshed and, where possible, extended. The relationship with senior managers and HR in all these areas is very good and discussions take place between us on a regular basis.
Finally a union can only be as strong as its membership and we continue to have good levels of membership in all recognised units which is of great assistance to us at the bargaining table. Yes, we would like to see it increase and we would like to see it increase in Craigforth and UKI so the members there can benefit from all the collective representation a union can bring. So thanks to you our members in helping us reach this anniversary and please encourage your friends and colleagues to join and support the union in Prudential so we can continue our efforts in making the Prudential a great place to work.
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