Bank redundancies - Staff should get fair deal

THE scale of impending job losses at Ulster Bank has sent shockwaves through the 6,000-strong workforce and is further evidence of the perilous state of our financial institutions.

With the axe hanging over the future of nearly 1,000 staff, the company’s warning of compulsory redundancies is an ominous development. The risk of an industrial dispute could threaten the very survival of bank, which is owned by the Royal Bank of Scotland. RBS itself is now virtually owned by the taxpayers of Britain, where the axe is also being wielded.

This is a major blow for families up and down the country. It is important to emphasise that workers on the bank floor were not responsible for the collapse of an institution virtually wiped out by the wild excesses of top managers who were out of control in an unregulated environment.

With more redundancies looming in the banking sector, there is an onus on Ulster Bank to be fair in its dealings with staff.