AIB jobs could go in North and Britain
Issued : 2 May 2010
Sunday Business Post
Thousands of jobs could be at risk at AIB's subsidiaries in the North and Britain because of lack of interest in buying the businesses, the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has claimed.
The union has met politicians in the Northern Assembly to lobby on behalf of its members in First Trust Bank in the North and AIB GB in Britain.
It said that around 2,800 jobs were at risk because of ''a lack of interest from prospective buyers'', or if the businesses were taken over by another bank and duplicated jobs were eliminated.
AIB plans to sell off the businesses in the North and Britain, along with its 22.5 per cent stake in M&T in the US and 70 per cent stake in Polish bank Zachodni WBK. At AIB's annual general meeting in Dublin last week, the bank's management revealed there had been ''many, many expressions of interest'' in the US and Polish assets.
IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick met Democratic Unionist Party MP Sammy Wilson last Tuesday to discuss the threat to 1,500 jobs at First Trust. He also plans to meet Reg Empey, the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party, after the British general election on Thursday.
IBOA spokesman Seamus Sheils said financial reports in London and other sources indicated that there had been ''little or no interest'' in the two British arms of AIB's business.
''Northern Ireland has a unique economy, and we can't see that fitting in well with the plans of a large global bank," said Sheils. ''We are concerned that there will be a fire sale, and that a European bank will come in and take First Trust over - without understanding anything about local business.
''In the case of AIB GB [Great Britain], the staff there have enjoyed strong terms and conditions that are likely to be eroded or reduced in any takeover by another major player. We don't believe it is pivotal to AIB that these assets are sold off. We hope that the government will use their influence to prevent any such sales progressing."
Nicola Cooke
