Prudential staff call off strike over ‘Project Jupiter’

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Prudential staff call off strike over ‘Project Jupiter’

Prudential staff have called off two 24-hour strikes after management guaranteed jobs would be found for all employees affected by a decision to relocated 82 jobs to Mumbai, the Unite union has announced.

The first strike, which was due to take place on Friday (16 September), involved back office staff in the firm’s Reading-based annuity business.

Unite states that “bosses gave guarantees that alternative jobs would be found for those affected”.

The union also suspended an “indefintie work-to-rule” in which staff refused to take part in any work aiding the offshoring operation known as “Project Jupiter”.

Unite regional officer Ian Methven said: “This welcome commitment to find alternative jobs for the people affected by the outsourcing of work to Mumbai has enabled us to call off our industrial action.

He praised the “resolve and solidarity of Unite members working at Prudential”, adding: “We will now seek to work constructively with Prudential bosses in hammering out the detail and ensuring the alternative jobs on offer are suitable for those affected.”

A Prudential spokesperson said: “We are pleased the industrial action has been suspended. From the outset, our stated aim has been to find as many alternative positions as possible for anyone affected by our plans for the migration of some annuities administration work to other offices.

“Having identified some new opportunities internally we have now been able to offer alternative roles to all those people affected. We have been holding regular and constructive discussions with Unite and plan to continue this dialogue,” the spokesperson said.