Union rejects Ulster Bank pension proposal in North

IBOA, the finance union, has challenged Ulster Bank’s proposal to increase the cost of its defined benefit pension scheme for 1,500 staff in the North.

The bank is looking to hike the cost of its pension scheme in response to changes being introduced by the UK government.

Ulster Bank’s national insurance employer contributions will increase by £1m (€1.28m) per year from next month as part of UK pension reforms.

The bank’s proposal is to pass these costs onto staff members who are part of the organisation’s defined benefit scheme by requiring them to pay an extra 2% of their salary — 1% in October and the rest the next year.

The proposal would not affect workers in the Republic.

IBOA, the union representing the bank’s workers in the North, has rejected the proposal, arguing it would undo recent pay increases.

“By imposing this additional burden on its workers, Ulster Bank would effectively wipe out the modest pay rises secured by our members recently,” said IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick.

“Our members in Northern Ireland consider this to be totally unacceptable. It represents a very inauspicious start to the move towards closer integration with RBS.”

Ulster Bank is owned by Edinburgh-based RBS. A spokesperson for RBS confirmed the bank was proposing to increase the cost of the defined benefit scheme as a result of UK government reforms.

“Reforms made to defined benefit pensions mean that the costs of our scheme have risen,” the spokesperson said.

“As a result, RBS is proposing to increase the cost of being a member of the scheme. The bank will be consulting on this proposal with affected staff and employee representatives.”

The proposal has faced similar opposition in Britain from trade union Unite, which represents RBS workers there.

Unite national officer Rob MacGregor called on RBS to absorb the higher National Insurance contributions which he said would cost £18m across the entire group and affect 28,500 staff.

“RBS employees, who have struggled to bring the bank back from the brink, deserve better,” he said.