RBS share price: Union slams lender over relocation of jobs to India

State-backed Royal Bank of Scotland Group (LON:RBS) has been slammed by a trade union over its decision to relocate another 66 jobs to India. The move comes with the bailed-out group looking to trim costs as it struggles to return to profitability.

RBS’ share price has inched higher in London this morning, having gained 0.31 percent to 195.30p as of 08:01 BST. The group’s shares are outperforming the benchmark FTSE 100 index which has started the day on the back foot and is currently 0.01 percent lower at 6,728.62 points. The group’s shares have lost just under 46 percent of their value over the past year, and are down by more than 35 percent in the year-to-date.

Trade union Unite said in a statement yesterday that RBS’ move to offshore further jobs in India was the ‘ultimate betrayal’ by the blue-chip group.
“The bank is continuing the senseless cutting of important back office functions,” Rob MacGregor, Unite national officer, noted in the statement, adding that the union was calling on the group to “reconsider this offshoring to India for the sake of their staff and their reputations”.
He further noted that Unite would now press the bank to “ensure that they find all staff affected by the offshoring news today suitable alternative employment”.
A spokesman for the bank told Reuters that the affected roles were for processing staff in the bank’s chargeback unit and were all currently in Southend in southeast England.
“With RBS becoming a smaller, simpler bank, we’ve been restructuring our back office support so it’s a better fit for our business. Unfortunately, these changes will mean some job losses,” the spokesman pointed out, as quoted by the newswire.
RBS, which was rescued by the UK government during the financial crisis, has been looking to trim costs by shedding jobs and disposing of non-core assets in an effort to return to profitability. The lender, whose fortunes have been further pressured by the outcome of the UK referendum, is scheduled to update investors on its half-year performance on August 5.
As of 08:27 BST, Thursday, 21 July, Royal Bank of Scotland Group share price is 194.70p.