The Manufacturing Science Finance trade union, which represents the majority of the 1,750 staff at CGU, Hibernian and Norwich Union, is confident the proposed merger will not trigger job cuts at the Irish operations.
MSF national secretary, Mr Jerry Shanahan, said the buoyant life and pension business in Ireland combined with the already high turnover of staff in the sector should ensure that no forced job losses will be sought. The £19 billion sterling (€30.5 billion) merger between CGU and Norwich Union is expected to lead to 5,000 job losses throughout its global operations, with the bulk likely to be concentrated in the UK.
"Job security will be at the top of our agenda. We are confident that in the current climate, given that the level of turnover is already running at double the norm, it should be possible to accommodate all staff," Mr Shanahan said yesterday.
MSF is already involved in negotiations with CGU and Hibernian on the effect of the merger of those two businesses on staff at its Irish operations.
The union now proposes to appoint representatives from Norwich Union and widen the agenda to include all issues affecting staff at the three companies.
Norwich Union employs 550 people in the Republic while CGU employs 1,200. The discussions are likely to focus on how the general and life business of these companies can be combined and also the impact of the merger on the existing head office operations.
A spokesman for Norwich Union said: "We have no further details, but it is good news, it will make for a bigger, stronger group."
MSF has requested meetings with senior management at CGU and Norwich Union and expects to carry on these discussions this week. Mr Shanahan said MSF's negotiations will be framed around a two year transitional period during which the restructuring of the businesses should be completed.
He said the union had a good track record in such negotiations and no compulsory job losses have been required in any of the recent Irish mergers within that sector. If redundancies are necessary, these will be achieved on a voluntary basis, he added.
Mr Shanahan also cautioned that it is still possible that another international institution may yet step in with a bid for Norwich Union as the pace of consolidation within Europe intensifies.
