Workers tightlipped as redundancy news breaks

Workers at AIB were remaining tightlipped at their biggest branch in Cork on the South Mall yesterday.

Despite being asked on numerous occasions for their reaction to the announcement of 2,500 job losses in the bank where they work, all the workers declined to comment.

A spokesperson for the IBOA explained the bank workers were afraid to talk to the media following a case a few years ago when an employee was on the receiving end of an action from a different bank after commenting on a redundancy announcement.

The announcement of the job losses didn’t go unnoticed by customers.

The public image of AIB hasn’t emerged from the redundancy issue without tarnish. Rose Lynch, a long-term customer of the bank, said that if she wasn’t tied into a long-term agreement she would have changed banks after hearing about the redundancies.

Ms Lynch from Grange in Cork said: “It does change my perception of the bank, all of the redundancies.

“I would find a new bank but at the moment I’m not in a position to do it, but if I could I would.”

However not everyone was as enraged by the banks plans to get rid of 2,500 workers. Lisa Viero, who has been banking with AIB for six years, said that her opinion on the bank wasn’t changed by the redundancy. “Personally, as a customer, my opinion of them hasn’t changed. I feel sympathy for the workers, but I wouldn’t change my bank.”