News

01/20/2009 - Trade union coordinators of the European Works Council (EWC) of Santander Group have written to the bank's management to complain about not having been informed about layoffs in Santander's subsidiaries in the UK. UNI affiliates Fes-UGT and Comfia-CCOO request an urgent meeting of the EWC.



In a letter to the Group Human Resources director, Santander's EWC coordinators complained that they were not informed of the planned job cuts in Santander's UK operations (Abbey National Bank, Alliance & Leicester Banks and Bradford & Bingley). They request an urgent meeting of the EWC to receive specific information on the job losses planned, the renewal of early retirement agreements as well as on the future direction of the Group.



Santander announced on 12 December that it will cut 1,900 jobs in its UK operations as it integrates the acquisitions made in 2008 (Alliance & Leicester Banks and Bradford & Bingley). The job losses represent 8 per cent of the group's headcount in the UK.



According the European Union's EWC directive, the council should be informed well in advance of exceptional circumstances affecting considerably the interests of workers, especially in cases of relocations, restructurings, etc.