Ulster Bank staff balloted on industrial action
Friday, 1 December 2000 23:51
Staff at Ulster Bank are being balloted on industrial action over the bank's restructuring programme. The Irish Bank Officials Association claims the restructuring means pay cuts of between £3,000 and £10,000 pounds a year for staff. However, the Bank argues that very few people will be asked to accept any pay cut.
While teachers and others in the public sector are arguing for pay increases to cope with increasing inflation, staff at Ulster Bank are fighting what they say are dramatic pay cuts. The Irish Bank officials Association claims that nobody will benefit from better terms or conditions in their situation at the bank following the restructuring programme. It says that 60 percent of staff at the bank only earn up to £23,000 pounds a year and under the new programme, it will £19,000.
Ulster Bank disagrees claiming that a lot of people will be offered wage increases; many will remain on the salary that they were on and a few will be offered jobs with a lower salary. The Bank says the exact number in each category is unknown at the moment. If someone is offered a lower salary, they will be entitled to a compensation payment of about three times the difference between the two salaries or early retirement or voluntary severance.
The Irish Bank Officials Association has been in negotiations with the bank over this restructuring programme and today they are sending out ballot papers to vote on possible industrial action if their talks with the bank don't succeed. The association says the mood among staff is very angry.
- News At One: Larry Broderick, Assistant General Secretary of the Irish Bank Officials Association, and Paddy McMahon, Deputy Chief Executive of Ulster Bank, discuss the situation at the bank
- 6.01 News: Colm O'Callaghan reports on the Ulster Bank conflict
- 1.00 News: Colm O'Callaghan reports on the possibility of yet another strike
