Banking bonuses - UNISON response

Dave Prentis, UNISON General Secretary, has slammed the announcement that banking bonuses are set to increase by 50% in 2009 as a 'disgrace' while the taxpayers are paying the price again with job losses, pay freezes and public service cuts".

Dave said, “It is a disgrace that bankers are in line for billions in bonuses, whilst the taxpayers, who bailed them out, are paying the price again with job losses, pay freezes and public service cuts. The Government must make sure that the rot doesn’t set in again. Big bonuses and risky city moves are what got us into this mess in the first place, and leaving bankers to police their own bonuses is like leaving the fox in charge of the chickens.

“The financial crisis wasn’t caused by nurses, social workers, paramedics, dinner ladies and other public sector workers– they should not be made to pay the price. They are the ones on the front-line - helping communities cope with the worst effects of the recession.

“Instead of awarding themselves big bonuses, the bankers and financiers should pay back the hundreds of billions of pounds that taxpayers spent bailing them out.”