AIB announcement ill- timed and should be postponed says FSU

AIB announcement ill- timed and should be postponed says FSU

Terms of engagement yet to be agreed between FSU and AIB

The announcement of a 3-year plan today by AIB management that includes over 1,500 redundancies is ill timed and should be postponed according to John O’Connell, General Secretary of the financial services union.

AIB were due to announce their cost cutting 3-year plan back in March but postponed it because of COVID-19. The Bank announced details of a plan today that includes voluntary redundancies which may total 1,500 in total over a 3-year period.

According to Mr O’Connell there has been minimal engagement between the bank and the FSU in relation to the plan. He was also very critical of big announcements on job losses during a pandemic with so many people on state payments.

“We are still in the middle of a world -wide pandemic. No major announcements on job cuts should be made at this stage, particularly by a Bank that is part owned by the Irish Government “stated Mr O’Connell.

Mr O’Connell also commented on what he described as outstanding issues that need to be resolved between the Bank and the union.

“During the austerity years the working day was extended which means that staff working in AIB work longer hours than their counterparts in other banks. This was never intended as a long-term condition and needs to be reversed immediately. There are also issues in relation to pay, pensions and homeworking that would need to form part of any discussions between the Bank and the FSU” stated Mr O’Connell.

“There will have to be immediate meaningful engagement by the Bank. The management need to provide the evidence to back up their assertion of the requirement for less staff, while demonstrating that those staff remaining will not be overburdened. They will also have to categorically rule out any possibility of compulsory redundancies and table proposals to tackle the outstanding issues so terms of reference for talks can be agreed” concluded Mr O’Connell.

ENDS

Contact: Brian McDowell, Head of Communications and Public Affairs, FSU. Tel: 087-9161225. Email: brian.mcdowell@fsunion.org.

Notes to editors:

• FSU general secretary, John O’Connell is available for interview, on request.

About FSU: The FSU is Ireland’s leading union across banking and finance. We represent thousands of staff across the main retail banks, and we have members in more than 70 companies across the finance and fintech sectors. Our members are spread across the Republic of Ireland, Northern Ireland, and Great Britain. We are headquartered in Dublin and we also have a presence in Belfast. We are members of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions and UNI Global finance union.