Bank workers blame greed for job cuts

Bank workers today blamed the greed and incompetence of senior management for the loss of 750 jobs at Ulster Bank.

The cull is part of a cost-cutting package that will see the bank shut down its 148-year-old mortgage and investment arm First Active.

Ulster Bank insisted the 550 jobs to be axed in the Republic and 200 redundancies in the North will be rolled out as part of a voluntary severance scheme.

But the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) launched an attack on senior management at the bank’s parent company Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS).

IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said: “Our members feel very strongly that Ulster Bank Group staff are effectively being scapegoated for the mismanagement, incompetence and greed of senior management in RBS.”

The merger will mean the disappearance of First Active, first set up in 1861, as it amalgamates with Ulster Bank branches at 45 locations throughout Ireland.

Another 15 First Active branches will convert to Ulster Bank branches.

The Ulster Bank group, which employs more than 7,000 people and is one of Ireland’s “big four” banks, said it would also be cutting costs throughout other areas of its business.

These initiatives will result in a reduction of group staff numbers by up to 550 in the Republic and up to 200 in the North, said an Ulster Bank spokesman.

“A voluntary severance package will be made available to staff throughout the group.

“Meetings will be held with employees and employee representatives in the coming days to plan the merger of First Active and Ulster Bank and to present and discuss details of the package available.”

The merger is expected to be completed by the end of the year. During this time all First Active customers will be automatically transferred to Ulster Bank.

“The Ulster Bank branch presence will continue in each of the locations in which we currently operate,” said the bank spokesman.

“First Active customers need not take any action at this time.”

IBOA, which represents 4,000 workers at the bank, and trade union Siptu, which represents 360 staff at First Active, said they will be challenging the scale of the redundancies.

“Management has indicated its willingness to negotiate on the proposed restructuring,” said Mr Broderick.

“So the first item on the agenda for our negotiations with management will be to establish whether this number of job losses is justified.”

The unions said they would demand no compulsory redundancies and seek further clarification from RBS about its commitment to its Irish operations after the restructuring package.

A senior opposition politician, Fine Gael’s Leo Varadkar, suggested the lay-offs were merely the tip of the iceberg.

“Tragically, these redundancies are likely to be followed by thousands more in the financial sector,” he said.

“The scale of job loss announcements is rising all the time, with new redundancies being announced almost every day.

“Dell has already announced 1,900 redundancies, and just over a week ago more than 900 redundancies were announced in one day across a range of companies.”

In the North, almost 100 jobs are to go in a second round of redundancies at a forklift manufacturing plant in Co. Armagh.

NACCO Materials Handling Group (NMHG) announced 96 redundancies at its Craigavon plant.

In September, the company made 81 people redundant. There are 616 people employed at the site.