Blame Government for lack of job cuts, unions tell troika

Bank unions are to write to the troika to tell them that the delay in shedding thousands of jobs in the sector is the fault of the Government and not staff, trade unions or the financial institutions.

It was reported yesterday that the EU/ECB/IMF troika had expressed its frustration to the Government that large salaries were still being paid to bank workers who should have been made redundant by now.

In response, the Department of Finance said it was working with the banks “as they design systems that are appropriate for the banks themselves and the industry as a whole, as well as fair to the taxpayer which has provided support to the banks through committed capital investment of €64 billion”.

The department also said all that had been discussed with the troika was that any redundancy plans would have to reflect the high level of investment by taxpayers in the banks.

Larry Broderick, IBOA general secretary, said his organisation would be writing to the troika to ask them exactly what they had told the Government.

“Do they understand the background to it and are they fully aware that the delays in relation to the restructuring is more down to the Department of Finance than it is to the staff, trade unions or management of the bank?” he said.

Mr Broderick referred to the ongoing dispute between Bank of Ireland and its staff on one side and the Department of Finance on the other over redundancy terms to be offered to staff.

Last July under mediation, the bank and the unions agreed a deal which would see 450 staff take voluntary redundancy of four weeks’ pay per year of service, plus a “retraining grant”. The union said the bank is continuing to block that deal.

Mr Broderick said IBOA would be encouraging the troika to endorse the deal that has been agreed.

“We understand the bank itself and the board, including its private investors, who are clear and are keen to proceed with us in implementing the restructuring plan. It is going to result in job losses and we know that,” he said.

Meanwhile at AIB, where at least 2,000 job losses are expected to be announced imminently, the union has claimed the Government has stopped the bank from attending an independent tribunal to address the need for “voluntarism” and terms of any redundancy package.

“We recognise AIB is in state ownership and that it is going to be a huge ask from the staff in terms of job losses,” said Mr Broderick.

“We would ask that it commit to the normal industrial relations processes to agree a plan and to agree how it should be manifested and implemented on a voluntary basis.”