Bank of England staff will protest outside its City headquarters today in an ongoing dispute over pay.
Unite has criticised a pay settlement which it describes as “derisory” and said has been imposed on staff without negotiation.
The union has said this will be the second-year running that the bank has imposed a below-inflation pay offer.
Unite regional officer Mercedes Sanchez said: “The message coming from staff at the bank is that an imposed pay offer of one per cent simply fails to realise the reality of the pressure staff face meeting their costs of living.
“The refusal of the Bank of England to award its staff a pay deal in line with inflation is a shame on the reputation of the organisation and strike action will do nothing for the reputation of the prestigious bank.
“Unite wants to see the bank urgently reconsider its damaging pay policy and reopen meaningful discussions with Unite on behalf of staff.”
Unite represents staff in security and maintenance as well as analysts and administrative staff, those working in the legal, HR and IT departments as well as managers.
Their members are currently being balloted for industrial action.
The ballot is the first stage of the industrial action where staff from the maintenance, parlours and security departments have been chosen for the ballot for strategic reasons.
Other departments will be balloted as the dispute progresses.
The dispute has been caused by the imposition of a one per cent increase in the pay pot for the pay year, which started in March 2017.
The amount that an individual will receive is then decided at the discretion of line managers, meaning staff could receive less than one per cent and some will receive no rise at all.
In a consultative ballot in February Unite members voted by over 70 per cent to move to a formal industrial action ballot.
The Bank of England has been asked to comment.
damian.fantato@ft.com
