The union representing the majority of
Lloyds TSB staff has called on the bank to end its outsourcing
of jobs to India in the wake of its takeover of
HBOS.
The Lloyds TSB Group Union (LTU) has been arguing for some time
that jobs that have been transferred to India over the past five
years should be returned to the UK.
"As part of our negotiations on the takeover, the union will be
insisting that to help mitigate large scale job losses in the UK,
as the new combined bank seeks to remove overlaps and duplication -
saving £1bn by 2011 - the bank should agree to immediately freeze
all ongoing programmes that involve transferring yet more jobs to
India," said the LTU.
Its call covers IT and back office function jobs. The LTU also
wants the bank to "commence plans to return to the UK the estimated
3,000 jobs that have already been transferred to India, in order to
safeguard existing UK jobs that would otherwise be lost as Lloyds
TSB and HBOS operations merge together," it said.
In March, Lloyds TSB closed its call centre in Mumbai and
returned the jobs to the UK.
Steve Tatlow, LTU assistant general secretary, said, "If the new
bank is to be so dominant in the UK, it is imperative that it
commits itself to supporting UK customers only from the UK.
"By ditching its 'jobs to India' strategy, the Lloyds TSB board
would be shouting loud and clear that it genuinely is committed to
the wellbeing of its customers, staff and the UK economy."