Union chief hits out at Ulster Bank as pay talks collapse
Issued : 10 October 2009
Irish Independent
The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has warned of possible industrial action against Ulster Bank following the collapse of negotiations over changes to employee contracts in the areas of pay, pensions and profit-sharing.
The IBOA are claiming that Ulster Bank walked away from the talks chaired by Kieran Mulvey, chief executive of the Labour Relations Commission.
The breakdown in negotiations comes in the wake of two rounds of voluntary redundancies at the bank earlier this year, which were heavily over-subscribed with more than 1,000 employees agreeing to leave.
The IBOA are claiming the bank intends to impose unilateral changes to the existing employee contracts without the agreement of unions.
Larry Broderick, general secretary, said the bank's behaviour was "totally unacceptable" and that no other bank had attempted to "browbeat" their staff like Ulster Bank.
Negotiations
However, Ulster Bank does not accept the IBOA claims, adding that negotiations had been ongoing since February and that agreement could not be reached on a number of key issues. In a statement, Ulster Bank said it had sought to introduce "new pay arrangements linked to market conditions and performance". The bank is now hoping to negotiate directly with employees.
One of the stumbling blocks to agreement is the pay freeze that Ulster Bank had brought in for the whole of 2009. The IBOA maintained that profit-sharing payments and other contractual payment increments were at risk under the bank's proposed changes to contracts.
They also claimed that the changes to the company's pension scheme would leave employees worse off. "We have also made it clear that, if the bank proceeds with this attempt to impose a non-negotiated settlement, then we intend to respond forcefully and to seek support from our colleagues in the wider trade union movement," Mr Broderick said.
Ulster Bank refused to comment on possible industrial action.
Nigel Cosgrave
