There is an atmosphere of confusion and a climate of uncertainty in Bank of Ireland, according to the General Secretary of the Financial Services Union General Secretary.
John O'Connell said the union intends to take Bank of Ireland to the Workplace Relations Commission. The union represents the majority of staff in the bank.
Mr O'Connell said there is a system in place for how change comes about and for reasons "best known to themselves", the bank has decided to unilaterally re-open its voluntary redundancy scheme to staff.
Earlier this month, Bank of Ireland said it plans to reduce its workforce by around 1,400 over the coming years.
Part of that reduction will be accounted for by a redundancy programme.
A spokesperson for the bank said the cuts would see staff numbers reducing to fewer than 9,000 from a current workforce of 10,400.
Bank of Ireland said it appreciated that this is an important decision for colleagues and it is providing a range of practical supports including tax, pension, education and career advice.
In a statement, the banks said: "We have dedicated teams in place to address any queries as colleagues continue to review details of the package. In addition the CEO and other senior colleagues are hosting sessions to answer colleagues' questions directly."
It is understood the voluntary redundancy package allows for four weeks' pay per year of service.
John O'Connell told RTÉ's Today with Sarah McInerney show that the union had asked for a pause to the voluntary redundancy scheme because the union and staff have a lot of questions that need to be answered.
He said members need certainty so they can make decisions.
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"Bank of Ireland, without any meaningful engagement with the FSU, have made proposals to cut 1,400 jobs. These proposals were made unilaterally, in a way which was not in keeping with normal industrial relations practise," Mr O'Connell said.
"We have long standing agreements with Bank of Ireland, which were cast aside in this case," he added.
Mr O'Connell noted that bank staff, as essential workers, have ensured that branch services remain operating and services continue to customers during Covid-19.
"We need to see the light of day cast on the job cut proposals so they can be scrutinised. Any threat to services from job cuts will be robustly challenged by FSU," he stated.
Bank of Ireland said it has engaged with all employee representative bodies throughout the programme and will continue to do so.
The bank said it had "significant engagement with the FSU", and has further meetings planned over the coming weeks.
