Financial Conduct Authority staff back industrial action over pay changes

Staff at the UK’s financial watchdog have voted to go on strike over proposed changes to pay and benefits at the agency.

Unite the union said members who work at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have voted overwhelmingly to take industrial action, with 87% supporting the plans.

Unless a negotiated settlement is reached, Unite can now proceed to a full industrial action ballot, the union said.

Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary officer, said: “The employees are telling FCA bosses that the proposed changes are damaging and destroying any remaining goodwill the staff had.

“It is time for the FCA management to come to the negotiating table and ensure they avoid damaging the important work of the regulator.

“Unite will sit down and negotiate through ACAS as soon as the FCA agrees; the ball is in FCA’s court now.

“While the proposed cuts at the regulator is good news for fraudsters and rip-off merchants, it is bad news for people with savings, loans, mortgages and pensions as experienced and committed staff are being forced out of the door.

“The new FCA CEO, Nikhil Rathi, should be waging war on malpractice in the financial sector, not on his own staff.”

Members are unhappy with changes introduced as part of an overhaul to pay bands at the FCA.

The watchdog said the new rules will see pay rise for those on the lowest pay but the union says bonuses have been scrapped, meaning overall pay levels have fallen.

Unite has asked for formal recognition by the FCA, however this has been refused.

By comparison, trade unions are recognised at the Bank of England and Pensions Regulator.

The next step will be to hold a formal statutory ballot if chief executive Mr Rathi refuses to come to the negotiating table, Unite added.

Staff turnover has increased as a result and led to significant growth in trade union membership, according to the union.

However, Mr Rathi told MPs at the Treasury Committee recently that was not the case and the concerns raised were “noise”, adding changes would actually improve staff performance.

He said: “We do not see attrition in our organisation at levels elevated to what they were typically before the pandemic.”

The boss added that the FCA spent £492,000 on communication consultants over the changes, explaining: “We need change skills in the organisation for the scale of change that we are undertaking.

“We are drawing on that as proportionately and sensibly as we can. We are an organisation that has achieved a huge amount.

“In order to get to the operational integrity that we need, we are going through a period of deep, wide-ranging change. This will be challenging.

“You will hear noise out of the organisation for a number of months to come, because we are also being more rigorous, self-aware and self-critical about our performance, which is a challenging cultural journey for us to go through.”

An FCA spokesperson said: “The proposals in the consultation would ensure the FCA continues to provide one of the best, if not the best, employment packages of any regulator or enforcement agency in the UK.

“Under the proposals, most colleagues will receive base salary rises of at least 5% this year and 4% next, with many receiving significantly higher amounts.

“In particular, around 800 of our lowest paid colleagues would receive pay rises this year of, on average, £3,800.”