Finance union Unifi has attacked Ecclesiastical over its planned job cull.
Unifi claimed the insurer is cutting 80 jobs, twice as many as Ecclesiastical announced last week. It has now called on the insurer to reconsider its office closure plans, which it called a "jobs for profit" cull.
Unifi said Ecclesiastical announced cuts without prior warning to staff or the union, which it claimed went against an agreement to consult staff at an early stage.
Unifi national officer Terry Keefe said: "This is the fifth time in less than twelve months that the company has acted in this way - on one occasion with less than 24 hours' notice.
"Ecclesiastical is asking for volunteers from affected areas to come forward and those that do not will have to go through the trauma of re-applying for their jobs. For a company that calls itself an ethical employer this is a barbaric way to behave towards staff"
Last week Ecclesiastical revealed plans to restructure its operations, with the closure of five offices and the opening of two regional underwriting centres in Gloucester and Newcastle.
The insurer also revealed plans to close offices in Harrogate, Edinburgh, Belfast, Bristol and Cardiff.
The company claimed the move would improve broker service standards.
