Union attacks bank over 600 job cuts

Unite said the cuts represented a 50 per cent reduction in the department across the country.

National officer David Fleming said: “These latest Royal Bank of Scotland job losses are brutal. Six hundred staff, who for some time have faced job uncertainty as the bank reviewed their jobs, have today heard the worst possible news.

“Unite, for some time, has had major concerns about the appalling manner in which these workers at the bank have been treated. The union has continually raised with the bank the increasingly unachievable targets imposed on the workforce and is calling on it to review this redundancy procedure.”

RBS is 82 per cent taxpayer-owned.

RBS said in a statement: “The Retail Distribution Review legislation takes effect from December 31 2012 and will have a fundamental effect on how financial institutions deliver advice to customers across the whole industry, and for the workforce involved.

“From December 31 2012, customers will be charged a fee for the advice they receive from a qualified professional. If our customers choose financial advice for investment products, the costs will be made transparent at the outset.

“As a response to this, we will be reducing the number of roles by 618 across UK and creating 351 new roles.”