Employees of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) have voted 87% in support of industrial action against proposed cuts to pay and conditions, reports Unite.

Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham said: "The employees are telling FCA bosses that the proposed changes are damaging and destroying any remaining goodwill the staff had. It is time for the FCA management to come to the negotiating table and ensure they avoid damaging the important work of the regulator. Unite will sit down and negotiate through ACAS as soon as the FCA agrees; the ball is in FCA's court now."

The current proposals by FCA management impose heavy cuts on ordinary staff, reports Unite. The union lists the key concerns of the FCA staff:

• A swingeing package of pay cuts, including the loss of routine payments misleadingly labelled "bonuses" (10-12% of salary), the narrowing of pay bands, lower pay bands for Scottish staff, cuts affecting graduate trainees, and a threat of future cuts to pensions.
• An unfair appraisal system which requires managers to arbitrarily downgrade employees who are performing well.
• Continuing high levels of pay inequality, which are unusually high by the standards of public sector regulators. Bafflingly, while pay bands for most staff are being ruthlessly squeezed, those for senior managers are being uprated. Already the FCA has around 40 executives who earn more than the Prime Minister.
• Persisting problems with staff leaving and difficulties in recruiting replacements. The FCA has yet to provide a full set of figures showing the scale of this exodus.

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