UFS (trade union)
UFS was a trade union representing workers, principally in finance, in the United Kingdom.
Full name | UFS |
---|---|
Founded | 1988 |
Date dissolved | 1 January 2017 |
Merged into | Community |
Members | 2,535 |
Key people | Alan Wood, General Secretary Lynda Merrett, Assistant General Secretary Sue Horton, NEC Chair |
Office location | Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, UK |
Country | England Wales Channel Islands Isle of Man |
Website | ufsdirect |
The union was established in 1988 with its headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire.[1] It was a non-profit-making organisation, and was not affiliated to the Trades Union Congress or to any political party,[1] although it was part of the Alliance for Finance.[2]
UFS members came from many different employment sectors and the union had partnership agreements with some of the UK's major employers, including Zurich Financial Services, Capita Group (Life & Pensions), IBM and CSC.
History
An Eagle Star Staff Union merged into the Banking, Insurance and Finance Union (BIFU) in 1981, becoming its Eagle Star Insurance Company Section.[3] In 1988, it split from BIFU, again becoming an independent Eagle Star Staff Union, under the leadership of local organiser Alan Wood.[4] It is from this date that the UFS dated his formation.[1]
Following the takeover of Eagle Star by Zurich Financial Services in 1998, ESSU changed its name to the Union of Finance Staff.[5] It later shortened its name to UFS. At the start of 2017, UFS merged into Community.[6]
National Executive Committee
As a union, UFS was a democratic organisation that is organised into geographic regions, and is controlled by a National Executive Committee (NEC) which was elected by UFS members from different regions.[7]
NEC members were not employed by UFS except the position of General Secretary, which, as well as being an employed position, was also an elected NEC seat.[7] The General Secretary of UFS from 1998 was Alan Wood.[8]
References
- UFS, "About us"
- Alliance for Finance, "Our Members"
- Unite the Union, "Finance and Legal - history"
- IRIS News, vols.30-34, p.391
- Union of Finance Staff
- Trade Union Certification Officer, "Certification Office: mergers"
- UFS, "UFS Structure"
- UFS, "UFS Staff"