Since last month we have still not had the much anticipated PGDS re-structure announcement as it is still on hold. We have, however, had the Finance Transformation Day 3 announcement and consultations and discussions with HR continue on this subject.

We have also seen 2 of the UKIO Executive Team announce their exit (and as I write this although in early May) we have seen the announcement that Cathy Lewis, the HR Director, will also be leaving at the end of May.

But let’s start with Finance Transformation. 3 years after the start of the process to bring Actuarial and Finance together, we got to Day 3, which saw the Grade 1 – 3 structure announcement.

As mentioned last month, during the consultations our aim was to minimise the number of redundancies, protect existing terms and conditions and ensure there was a clear transparent process.

Going into the announcement we believed we had succeeded in meeting these aims with the Company saying they were looking at approximately 12 redundancies at G3 level and none at all within the G1 & G2 population. We had also been assured that no-one would have any of their terms and conditions changed during the matching and mapping process.

It was agreed that there would be 2 separate processes; a matching process with completion of assessment forms for G3’s and immediately after a mapping process for G1-G2 whereby individuals would be mapped into the new roles based on their skills and experience.

Unfortunately, once the announcement was made, it became apparent that a number of the current G3 roles had disappeared and remarkably similar new G2 roles had been created.

The process we have agreed means that G3s go through a matching process and any that fall out but want to stay have to wait until completion of the G1 &G2 process before they can apply for a G2 role. If they accept any G2 role it would be on the new G2 terms and conditions, which would result in a loss of the Car Allowance/Company Car entitlement and potentially a drop in salary. So although not losing terms and conditions in the matching process some G3 who want to stay may have to “choose” to accept a role with worse terms and conditions than they currently enjoy or take the redundancy.

In addition, some of the messages from the managers have been inconsistent and we are working with HR to try and get a clear consistent message out to employees. We will support our members throughout the process and would urge anyone who has any questions about the process to get in touch.

Moving on to PGDS. The announcement expected in March is still on hold, with no sign of a new date for the announcement. We continue to meet with HR to discuss items like morale and these meetings have been productive but on the main issue people want to know about – the re-structure – there has been no news.

We understand how frustrating this is for our members and we have been listening to your views and feeding this back, as well as undertaking a survey to try and understand how you are feeling about the re-structure. Further members meetings are planned for early May where we will feedback the survey results and listen to your concerns and wishes.

On a separate note, we mentioned last month an investigation that was underway following concerns that our members had raised and we understand that this is close to reaching its conclusion and that its findings will be known sometime in May.

I also mentioned last month British Sign Language taster sessions and we hope to be able to advertise some sessions in 121 shortly and if they are successful we will look to run sessions in London.

We continue to represent individual members and again the vast majority have ended in successful outcomes for the members.

A quick comment on the recent changes at the Executive level. I believe this was inevitable once a new CEO is announced. We have had a relatively stable Exec over the last few years and all three of the recent Executives leaving have been here a while and will be ambitious and have decided that now is the time to change and to allow the new CEO to bring in his own team. Whilst this is unsettling, we see no indication of a change in the UK strategy and we continue to meet with the business and ensure that your voices are listened to.

Finally, our membership continues to grow and of course the stronger our membership the greater our influence so please encourage any of your colleagues who aren’t members to join so that their voice and views are taken into account and that they can enjoy the individual and more importantly the collective benefits that being a Unite member brings.