Retail union Usdaw said it entered emergency talks with its members at Co-operative Insurance Society (CIS) following the company's decision to make more than 2,000 financial advisors redundant.
CIS said redundancies were necessary as part of the ongoing “modernisation programme”.
The two year programme was announced last year in response to market and economic changes, CIS said.
Usdaw claimed 2164 financial advisors were informed of their dismissal this morning. CIS, it said, had offered new jobs under different terms and conditions designed to turn round the company's trading position.
Usdaw north west divisional officer John McGarry said: "Our members are totally shocked at the decision to dismiss the whole sales team.
"We're very disappointed that a company that trades so heavily on its ethical policy should decide to take this sort of action.”
A CIS spokeswoman said: “Our financial adviser salesforce remains an integral and fundamental part of our plans for the future.”
