FCA blocks employee email containing union petition - reports

Efforts branded a phishing exercise by the regulator

The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has supressed employee efforts to drum up support for a petition urging colleagues to unionise with Unite, following suggestions the regulator was planning to quash automatic annual bonuses for employees.

According to a story in Financial News (FN), the email was sent internally to FCA staff by a group of dissatisfied employees and requested colleagues sign a petition that would recognise Unite as the union for the FCA. However, it was blocked by watchdog executives and labelled a ‘phishing' email, the publication reported. Since July, staff at the FCA have been pushing to join Unite, as changes made under Nikhil Rathi, the watchdog's chief executive, have proved unpopular with employees. In October, the FCA announced plans to axe bonuses for its 2,400 staff. At the time, Rathi said th...