Staff at Ulster Bank are expected to vote for immediate industrial action if the bank proceeds with implementing a programme of job losses and pay cuts.
More than 500 staff representatives who met in Dublin this weekend unanimously voted to reject the bank's proposals which could mean job losses of between 200 and 500 and pay cuts of as much as 30 per cent for certain staff. The bank employs 4,500 people in the Republic and the North, using broadly the same number in each operation.
The Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) will ballot its members this week asking them to mandate industrial action if it is deemed necessary. Meanwhile it will continue discussions with Ulster Bank on the proposals. IBOA assistant general secretary, Mr Larry Broderick, said that in tabling proposals for pay cuts and job losses, Ulster Bank had reneged on commitments given to its staff and to the trade union.
In a statement, Ulster Bank group chief executive, Mr Martin Wilson, accused the IBOA of moving against a background of rumour and misrepresentation and without completing full and proper consultation on its proposals. The bank claims its proposals include the creation of 100 additional jobs over the next five years. "We will implement a multi-million pound investment in branch improvements, technology and training. This is a plan for growth and is not a branch closure programme," he said.
The bank is seeking to introduce a voluntary severance programme which is aimed at removing administrative and processing functions from its branch network and centralising them in one designated unit. This will have the effect of reducing job numbers with concerns that staff in the Republic will suffer most as labour costs are cheaper in the North.
The bank is also seeking to reduce salaries and is offering some staff lump sums in return for them foregoing future wage increases. According to the IBOA, the minimum pay cut being proposed is £3,500 while staff working as customer advisers will face cuts of up to £10,000 a year.
Customer advisers in the Republic are currently earning wages of between £22,560 and £34,868. Under the bank's proposals, this scale would reduce to begin at £13,100 rising to a maximum of £24,000.
