Almost 1,000 workers in Irish Life have voted overwhelmingly to accept a Labour Court recommendation which will result in some of them getting a pay increase of as much as 7%.

Farmer groups have raised concerns about the closure of ACC’s retail bank with the loss of 180 jobs.

The UNITE trade union, which represents 10,000 workers in the financial sector, has said if bank salaries are to be cut, it must be at management level.

EBS is set to shed a further 200 jobs, with the news coming a day after staff at its parent company AIB’s Northern Ireland operation First Trust Bank won a £2m (€2.3m) payout in bonuses and pay rises.

The 12,500 staff who remain at AIB after the 2,500 job cuts announced yesterday could face possible wage reductions once the dust settles.

WORKERS at the EBS building society have warned of a potential escalation of their industrial action to extend to their parent bank, AIB, in a row over the non-payment of Christmas bonuses.

Around 300 staff members from EBS have picketed branches of the building society in protest over a pay dispute.

Protests are taking place at a number of EBS offices around the country today as part of a pay dispute.

Three hundred workers at EBS Building Society will go on strike today over what they say is the "withholding" of a 13th month payment.

MORE than 300 EBS staff are to hold a one-day strike next Tuesday at branches across the country over the withholding of a traditional Christmas bonus.

LOWER-RANKED staff at EBS are preparing to strike throughout Christmas week after being told they will not receive their traditional extra month’s salary with their December pay cheque.

MORE than half of frontline bank workers would back industrial action over plummeting confidence in their bosses, a survey has signalled.

More than half of frontline bank workers would back industrial action over plummeting confidence in their bosses, a survey has signalled.

UP TO 1,000 staff at Irish Life Assurance could strike within three weeks over the perceived failure of the company to engage over restructuring.

WE all face into an uncertain future.

THE union representing the bulk of staff at VHI has said its priority is to ensure that staff levels at the company are maintained following any sale.

Around 1,000 jobs were threatened today as Bank of Ireland revealed it will sell off a number of its subsidiaries.

Permanent TSB is axing 120 jobs and closing 11 branches, it announced today.

BANKS have effectively been given the green light to increase mortgage interest rates after Finance Minister Brian Lenihan said he will not intervene in the commercial decisions of financial institutions rescued by the State.

BANK workers who claim they were spat at by customers when news broke of a rise in interest rates by Permanent TSB have appealed to mortgage holders not to take their blame out on them.

Pickets will be placed at Bank of Ireland head office today in a row regarding bonuses for lower paid workers.

UP to 500 staff at one of Bank of Ireland’s insurance subsidiaries are to picket the bank’s head office this morning.

Disgruntled Bank of Ireland workers will picket head office tomorrow in a row regarding performance bonuses for lower paid staff.

Union leaders at finance house Irish Life & Permanent tonight warned management to pay agreed wage increases or face the threat of industrial action.

Rank-and-file staff at finance house Irish Life & Permanent have no confidence in senior management, union leaders warned today.

THE Government has been urged to announce its plans for a number of building societies amid fears its recapitalisation of the banks might undermine their position in the financial sector.

The Government tonight announced a revised bank recapitalisation, pumping €7bn into Allied Irish Bank and Bank of Ireland.

Next Tuesday’s picket of Bank of Ireland head office by 600 members of the Unite trade union has been called off following an agreement reached between the union and the bank today.

Workers at Bank of Ireland have been advised today that a share allocation bonus, agreed as part of a cost management programme which was delivered one year ahead of schedule, has been halved with no notice and an apparent disregard for agreed procedures.

WORKERS at the British Embassy will take to the streets for a day of protest next month over the forced redundancy of three men tasked with bringing British investment to the country.

THE British embassy in Dublin is facing strike action by at least 45 of its staff over compulsory redundancies proposed by the embassy.

A ballot for strike action at the British Embassy in Dublin began today with workers condemning management over planned job cuts.

The British Embassy in Ireland could be forced to close after staff today threatened to strike in a row over job cuts.

Trade union leaders and Bank of Ireland bosses have hammered out a deal to end a lengthy industrial row that saw workers strike, it was confirmed today.

The Amicus trade union has said it will strongly oppose any plans to break up the VHI in the wake of yesterday's decision by BUPA to exit the Irish market.

AMICUS has agreed to a Labour Court hearing of its pension dispute with Bank of Ireland.

There has been a breakthrough in the pensions dispute between Bank of Ireland and one of its unions.

Officials from the Amicus trade union are due at the Labour Relations Commission this morning.

AMICUS yesterday reached agreement on behalf of its members at Allianz Ireland to the insurance company’s pension arrangements.

A ONE-DAY strike by 500 Bank of Ireland staff is scheduled to commence this morning after last-ditch talks at the Labour Relations Commission failed to resolve a row over pensions.

Tonight's talks aimed at averting a strike by hundreds of Bank of Ireland workers have failed.

Planned strike action by Amicus union members at Bank of Ireland is completely unwarranted, management claimed tonight.

Greenkeepers at the K Club have been awarded pay increases of up to 50% over the next 16 months.