Inverness Chief Office and Inverness Eastgate branches to be closed in this devastating blow to workers and customers.
Unite the union have responded to the news RBS proposes to close a fifth of its branches in Scotland with an estimated 105 workers impacted by the bank closures.
The RBS branches earmarked for closure in September are as follows:
Aberdeen St. Nicholas
Bathgate
Cumbernauld Tay Walk
Dundee Kingsway Circus
East Kilbride
Edinburgh Bruntsfield
Edinburgh Leith
Edinburgh Nicolson Street
Glasgow Cardonald
Glasgow Charing Cross West
Glasgow Rutherglen West
Helensburgh
Inverness Chief Office
Inverness Eastgate
Largs
New Deer
Newbridge
Wishaw
In response to the RBS announcement, Esther O’Hara, Unite industrial officer said:
“The news that RBS is proposing to slash its high street and community banks by a fifth is another massive blow to this loyal workforce and the communities the bank serve.
“Many of these banks are situated in rural and remote communities where RBS customers rely on this vital service.
“The proposed closures come off the back of RBS closures elsewhere in the UK and we fear this latest announcement is just another stage in the phasing out of banks from our nation’s streets in the race to make all banking operations digital which is not suitable or accessible for many customers.
“The proposals raise fears for over 100 jobs and Unite’s objective is to ensure that there are no compulsory redundancies.
“The Natwest Group, which owns RBS, is an extremely profitable bank with its latest pre-tax profits rising by 20% to £6.2bn last year.
“It remains a bank which the taxpayer still owns by around 35 per cent, yet there is very little return for the public and no regard for the workforce and the customers the bank is supposed to serve.”
