The Labour Court has said it is "regrettable" that workers at KBC Bank Ireland who are members of the Financial Services Union (FSU) have not been "facilitated to engage as they desire with their employer" at a time when fundamental issues arise in their employment.
It follows the bank's refusal to attend a hearing of the court to discuss matters arising for the staff from the lender’s planned wind down of its Irish operations.
KBC Bank Ireland has also declined to meet with the FSU on the subject or to take part in conciliation at the Workplace Relations Commission.
The issue was referred unilaterally to the court by the FSU last year which asked it to consider and issue a recommendation around a range of topics including pension protection, retention payments, fixed term contractors and the extension of job security beyond next year.
In its recommendation, the Labour Court said KBC Bank Ireland chose not to attend the hearing, as is its right, but it did write to the court in advance of the hearing, although that letter was not sent to the union by the Belgian lender.
"The employer decided not to attend the hearing of the Court and consequently deprived the Court of engagement upon the letter which it had written to the Court," the Labour Court said.
"The Court therefore did not take correspondence received from the employer into account in any way in formulating this Recommendation."
"The Court relied solely upon the written and oral submissions made by the Union at its hearing."
It added that it had been advised that "very significant" matters associated with the conduct and future of the employment of the FSU members arise for workers at this time.
"The Court considers it to be regrettable that workers in membership of the Trade Union are not facilitated to engage as they desire with their employer through their union at a time when fundamental issues arise in their employment," it said.
It claimed that its capacity to deal with the issues is limited in the circumstances.
Therefore, it said, it had to confine itself to recommending that the parties should "engage constructively to address the five matters referred by the Trade Union to the Court and should commit to utilising the State's institutional dispute resolution framework as necessary in an effort to resolve matters by agreement."
Because of the unilateral nature of the referral of the issues to the court by the FSU, the recommendation is not binding on KBC but is on the union.
Gareth Murphy, Head of Industrial Relations and Campaigns with the FSU claimed the outcome shows KBC Bank Ireland is not a bank that values staff engagement or a that adheres to normal industrial relations practices.
"Once again KBC Ireland has refused to attend a Labour Court hearing and has refused to engage with staff’s union," he said.
"This shows a complete contempt for the industrial relations mechanisms of the State and a disregard for the views of union members in the bank."
He added that KBC recognises and negotiates with unions in other jurisdictions and all other main retail banks here also negotiate with their staff’s union representatives.
In a statement, KBC Bank Ireland said it has been determined to ensure that the requirements of staff are heard and understood as it prepares to exit from Ireland.
"KBC Bank Ireland has a range of internal mechanisms in place, including our internal Employee Council, for engaging with our employees on all matters affecting their employment," it said.
"KBCI respects our employees’ individual right to join a trade union, however we have always operated a model of direct engagement with employees."
"The matters referred to the Labour Court have been under discussion through that direct engagement model."
"This engagement process has consistently led to positive outcomes for our employees, including reaching agreement last year on the most generous redundancy terms in retail banking in Ireland."
