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Arena Magazine 2005 Issue 5 |
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Usdaw backs insurance agents facing big pay cuts
Financial advisers at the Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) staged a two-day strike after the company issued new contracts that could leave staff 30 per cent worse off.
The 2,000 advisers voted by a majority of two to one for industrial action after being offered the option to sign the new contracts or be sacked by the CIS.
More than 500 advisers from across the UK, led by a Scottish piper, held a national rally in Manchester on September 27 to urge CIS chiefs to reconsider their proposal.
"These hard working advisers have taken this action as a last resort after months of talks," said CIS national secretary Merdy Briggs. "We've always accepted the need for the change, but after months of negotiations the Co-op, who make so much of their ethical trading policy, has offered our members a simple choice, lose money or be sacked."
CIS claim the proposed changes are intended to give the company a chance of competing in the increasingly competitive insurance market but Usdaw says the demolition of a hard-working workforce will not achieve that aim.
"This is the first time in 35 years that advisers have taken action. Our members want CIS to be successful too, but not at their expense," added Merdy. "We have tried to avoid this dispute including conciliation talks at ACAS. We've offered to have the dispute sorted out by the independent advisors at ACAS but the CIS has refused."
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