Union calls for jobs guarantee from Abbey bidders

The
finance union Unifi has
called on any UK
bidders for Abbey National to guarantee that jobs will be protected

Spanish
bank Santander Central
Hispano (SCH), which unveiled a £8bn bid for Abbey last month, said it would cut
around 3,000 jobs within three years to meet its goal of reducing costs.

Analysts
estimate that a large UK bank, such as HBOS, could top that bid and more than
double SCH’s targeted job
cuts and cost savings because of ‘doubling up’ of branches and systems.

Ed
Sweeney, Unifi general
secretary, said: “We know the immense pressures to deliver huge cost-cutting
promises to City analysts. Unifi
will not sit by and allow its members and their families to be discarded in
this way without a fight."

Analysts
believe a counter-bid from a major domestic bank is likely to trigger a
six-month probe from the Competition Commission.

The
commission blocked Lloyds TSB’s £19bn bid for Abbey in 2001.

By Daniel Thomas

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