GUEST COMMENT: Investment bankers should join a union

The financial system as we know it has been forced to face up to the fact that while it was responsible for much of the wealth generation the UK has seen in the last 10 years, it has been badly tarnished by the worst recession this country has witnessed in two generations and been hit the hardest in terms of job losses.

Around 220,000 jobs were lost in financial and business services in 2008 and around 30,000 have been lost so far in 2009. It is a challenging time for those working in financial services in the UK.

The finance sector is a complex mix of not only banks and insurance companies but finance houses, asset management companies, investment banks and accountancy firms to name a few. This shows the diversity of the UK finance sector and the broad range of skills and experience of employees in the sector. Employees who work in these industries may feel rightly aggrieved about the media coverage of the sector and feel undervalued and vulnerable through no real fault of their own.

Unite has experience of dealing with workers in the finance sector and have members working across all functions including life assurance, asset management, banks, building societies, finance companies and the Bank of England.

They are intelligent, successful, creative and ambitious individuals working in a vibrant, dynamic, innovative and mostly profitable industry. Indeed the issues faced in finance are evident across the economy: discrimination, bullying, harassment, unreasonable targets and more recently redundancy are all areas where Unite has expertise to represent members.

While tradition dictates that most people's idea of trade union membership is a blue collar worker, employed in manufacturing industries, the reality of modern trade union membership is one where the typical member works in a professional field, enjoys higher rates of pay and improved terms and conditions than those in non-unionised workplaces. They are also less likely to take time off work due to sickness absence and are more likely to feel supported if things go wrong.

Trade unions also support many other professionals in the workplace; senior civil servants, professional footballers, surgeons, consultants and legal professionals all join trade unions - trade unionism is about support, protection and representation and professionals recognise the benefits that trade union membership gives them.

Unite is the largest trade union in the UK with a wealth of experience and resources to support members including legal, political and research departments to provide information, advice and guidance to officers and representatives and to campaign to improve pay and the conditions of service in the workplace.

In this new financial order, with issues of corporate accountability and risk in the spotlight, investment bankers will be feeling the pressures placed on them when dealing with risk based decisions on a daily basis.

When risk is a fundamental part of the job, and people are faced with a constant and undue level of scrutiny by both employers and regulators, it is likely that undue stress and anxiety will be experienced by employees at the very highest level. In this situation it is important to know that Unite can provide the necessary support to members in the sector.