The union that represents Lloyds TSB workers has failed to
win any commitment from the bank's executive board to bring jobs
back to the UK from India.
The Lloyds TSB Group Union met the board today, arguing that it
should bring 5,000 IT jobs that have been offshored to India back
to the UK.
With
Lloyds making people redundant and the government bailing the
bank out, the union felt that now is a good time to lobby the
board.
"We said rather than making people redundant in this country why
not bring jobs back from India," said a union spokesman.
But he said the union did not get the answer it wanted. "The
board said it would keep an eye on the situation and that it was
looking for efficiency."
Bob McDowall, analyst at Towergroup, said the union has a point
because taxpayers are a substantial minority shareholder. "When the
contract comes up for appropriate review the bank should seriously
consider bringing the jobs back to the UK.
"It would be outrageous and economically unjustifiable to make
UK staff redundant whilst leaving overseas the jobs servicing them,
their families and the communities in which they live," said Mark
Brown, assistant general secretary at Lloyds TSB Group Union.
The union made its
original call for the jobs to be returned in November.