ULSTER BANK DISCRIMINATING AGAINST IRISH WORKERS - SAYS UNION

Monty2008

Staff in Ireland asked to forgo 10% allowance already paid to British staff

Staff at Ulster Bank branches across Ireland are being discriminated against by the bank, according to IBOA The Finance Union. The bank, which is owned by the British-based Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Group, is pressing its 6,000 employees to sign new contracts which would reduce their terms and conditions of employment as the price for paying a 10% lump sum which is already due under the staff’s existing contract. RBS has already made the payment to British-based staff without any pre-conditions.

In order to protect the staff involved from this discrimination, the IBOA yesterday lodged papers with the Rights Commissioner Service in the Irish Republic to commence legal action against the Ulster Bank Group for allegedly making illegal deductions from the wages of its employees. A parallel action is being taken by the union in Northern Ireland, where papers were lodged with the High Court.

“The 10% lump sum has been paid in Ulster Bank in recent years to compensate staff, at least in part, for the fact that wage rates for employees lag behind those of similar grades in other retail banking groups,” said IBOA General Secretary, Larry Broderick. “The majority of workers in Ulster Bank in the Republic of Ireland are on low to middle incomes, earning between €21,000 and €37,000 a year.

“However, unlike their colleagues in RBS, Ulster Bank staff are being told that they can only receive this entitlement if they sign away their rights and benefits negotiated by the IBOA.”

Accusing Ulster Bank of “naked opportunism,” Mr. Broderick said that the Bank’s senior management was attempting to exploit the current recession to make substantive changes to the staff’s working conditions and especially their future pension benefits – which will be reduced to such an extent that future retirees will be condemned to poverty in old age.

“Our members have been given until November 13 to sign this new contract – with little explanation or clarification from the Bank. Unlike all previous contracts for staff members, the new contract has not been negotiated with the IBOA since the Bank walked away from mediation without prior discussion of the new terms.

“For a financial institution to behave in such a cavalier fashion on issues of serious financial and legal importance beggars belief. They have failed to provide staff with the necessary data to make an informed decision – a failure which, we believe, is in breach of the law.

“However, we do not intend to allow Ulster Bank to walk away from its responsibilities to its staff or its customers. This is why we have commenced legal action in both Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland to ensure that the Bank honours all its obligations,” declared Mr. Broderick.

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