In an extraordinary piece of news, workers at Goldman Sachs are creating a union. Well, it's Goldman Sachs in Japan but it's still extraordinary that bankers are even thinking about it.
According to the Japan Times, Goldman Sachs staff over there are taking the remarkable step of unionising after the company tried forcing resignations. "Instead of quitting, the company's actions spurred some employees to heed the call for workers of the world to unite, and they formed what's believed to be Goldman Sachs' first-ever employee union."
Bloomberg reports that Goldman Sachs and other banks have sacked about 2000 workers this year as the record earthquake in Japan and Europe's debt crisis roiled markets and dissuaded companies from raising funds, which means less money coming in for Goldman Sachs.
Last year, Goldman Sachs US executives flew into Japan to talk to staff worried about the radiation coming from Fukushima. The message to staff was clear: no one is to leave. If you do leave, you can't come back and expect to still work for Goldman.
So if Goldman's Japanese employees unionise, can we expect the same in America? Don't hold your breath. There have been attempts to unionise American financial services workers but they have got nowhere. Still, stranger things have happened, particularly with US bank profits reaching a five year as they lay off thousands of staff.
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