NU restricts union activity after publication of staff satisfaction survey
Relations between financial services union Amicus and Norwich Union (NU) have soured after the union accused NU of banning its representatives from company buildings.
The row follows publication of a staff satisfaction survey which found that 99.9% of NU staff feared further job cuts.
After they distributed the survey, union officials said they were told they could not use company meeting rooms that had been booked weeks in advance.
Amicus regional officer Mark Robinson said: "NU management are being totally unreasonable. Last week when we published details of our survey the company withdrew permission for us to use the rooms.
"We will now be trying to go around all 22 NU sites to distribute leaflets outside the gates."
An NU spokesman hit back at the allegations, claiming the survey was a blatant attempt to increase membership and was unrepresentative of the full workforce.
He said: "The Amicus survey results reflect the views of a small minority of staff and highlights responses to selective questions. We feel the survey has been commissioned with a view to increasing membership.
"We have not barred Amicus from our buildings. We simply asked that they do not employ methods to canvas for new members outside of those agreed in our partnership agreement."
The Amicus survey of nearly 2,000 staff claimed that 78% had job security worries, 57% had dealt with complaints from customers over the service of offshore operations and 94% thought that offshoring had damaged the NU brand.
NU plans to have 3,700 general insurance staff in India by the end of 2004.
