Workers at the City regulator will go on strike for the first time ever despite just one in 14 voting in favour of the move.
Staff at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have been complaining about a shake-up to pay, after new boss Nikhil Rathi tried to align bonuses more closely with performance.
Now, some workers will formally protest, after backing industrial action yesterday.
Pay row: FCA staff have been complaining about a shake-up to their pay, after new boss Nikhil Rathi (pictured) tried to align bonuses more closely with their performance
It has emerged that fewer than 8 per cent have given the thumbs-up to the strike. Only 640 workers of the FCA’s 4,000 staff are members of the union Unite, and 62 per cent of them voted.
Of those who did, 294 said they would refuse to come into work. A few more said they would support lesser industrial action, such as only working the hours they were strictly obliged to.
The strike is not the first time that the FCA has had to deal with disquiet. In 2019, it chastised staff on one floor of its London office for defecating on a bathroom floor and leaving alcohol bottles in sanitary bins.
Unite’s general secretary Sharon Graham said: ‘For the first time ever, the employees at the FCA have voted for industrial action.
‘They have made it very clear that the proposed changes to staff pay and conditions are completely unacceptable.
‘The FCA management must now address the serious concerns of their employees.’
But the FCA has resisted calls to U-turn on its pay reform, which the Daily Mail understands will see around 15 per cent of workers denied a pay rise.
A spokesman said it recognised ‘the strength of feeling about some of the changes’, adding: ‘Our new employment package is highly competitive, providing fair, competitive pay at all levels and rewards strong, consistent performance.’
Up until now, the FCA had handed out ‘bonuses’ to staff every year, worth around 10 to 12 per cent of their salary.
Around 70 to 90 per cent of staff were getting them every year at a time when many considered the regulator to be failing at its job.
