Bank officials seek major pay hike

THE Irish Bank Officials Association says its members are seeking a major pay hike to bring their salaries back into line with those earned in the civil service.

At the IBOA’s biennial conference at the weekend, economist Colm Rapple presented a study which showed workers in the banking profession were earning around 10% less than civil service equivalents. He said they would need a 15% pay rise to restore them to their relative position of 10 years ago.

Larry Broderick, general secretary of the IBOA, said his members had watched the directors of the big banks receive 30% annual pay hikes while his members received just 3.6%.

Mr Broderick told the IBOA’s biennial conference in Dublin over the weekend that he will be seeking much bigger pay rises for his members in the future. “It is outrageous that banks can make massive profits and offer only minimal increases to staff despite increased productivity and profitability.”

Mr Broderick said if there is a successor to the current national pay agreement, he wanted a local bargaining clause. Mr Broderick also said he would press ICTU to look at addressing the gap that has emerged in pay between public and private sector workers. “It is the private sector and, in particular, staff through their hard work and increased productivity who have created the enormous wealth that has driven our economy and created the so called Celtic Tiger.

“Yet they have been ignored and taken for granted for too long. IBOA will no longer tolerate this situation and will be making our views known very forcefully in ICTU and elsewhere in the coming months.”

The IBOA warning came a day after Finance Minister Brian Cowen said employees, in both the private and public sector, will have to accept that the days of large pay rises are over.

In his keynote address, Mr Broderick also said the union would not let Bank of Ireland force through compulsory redundancies as part of its plans to slash 2,100 jobs.

“Delegates at our conference have sent a clear message to Bank of Ireland that, if they attempt to implement such a draconian and unnecessary plan, they will be facing very serious and unprecedented industrial unrest from staff. The bank would be very foolish to ignore or underestimate the genuine fury among staff and customers over their plans,” Mr Broderick said.

The union and Bank of Ireland management are set to hold talks on the jobs cuts in the coming days.

IBOA members have agreed to hold a ballot on industrial action if the bank seeks compulsory job cuts.

Bank of Ireland said the cuts are necessary if it is to brining its cost base into line with its competitors.