HSBC bank workers are to go ahead with a 24-hour strike after talks to settle a dispute about pay broke down.
The walk-out, which is scheduled for Friday, will be the first major strike at a British bank for 40 years.
Union Amicus said a last-ditch meeting had failed to head off the walk-out by thousands of staff. It said 10% of staff were set to receive no pay rise this year and 45% would get less than inflation.
Members had voted by 68% in favour of the walk-out in protest at the imposed pay deal which the union says would lead to a wage cut.
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The union says HSBC branches will be closed for four days as a result of the action and the Bank Holiday next Monday.
David Flemming, national secretary at Amicus, told Personnel Today this week that industrial action across the financial sector would not stop with HSBC.
