Bank union welcomes transfer of 447 staff

THE IRISH Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has welcomed the transfer of 447 staff handling deposits at Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide to AIB and Irish Life Permanent.

A total of 237 staff working in branches of Irish Nationwide have transferred to Irish Life Permanent’s retail bank Permanent TSB, while some 210 employees of Anglo Irish Bank have become employees of AIB, as of midnight last night. There are no immediate redundancies at either Anglo Irish Bank or Irish Nationwide as a result of the transfer.

IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said yesterday evening the union had a “very positive meeting” with AIB. The IBOA welcomed the fact that Anglo staff would be treated as AIB staff.

However, the long-term future of employees in AIB remains uncertain. The IBOA was due to hold talks with Permanent TSB late last night in relation to the treatment of branch staff transferring from Irish Nationwide.

Ahead of the talks, Mr Broderick said Permanent TSB had given “very real assurances” to staff that there will be no compulsory redundancies and that any future redundancies would be on a voluntary basis.

AIB and Permanent TSB have now committed to recognising the right of the IBOA to act as representatives of the affected employees over the remainder of the deposit transition process.

“With the formation of a new government imminent, we believe it is imperative that an early meeting takes place between the IBOA and the new government,” Mr Broderick said.

The Department of Finance said the transferred staff would have their existing work terms and conditions “safeguarded in accordance with the applicable employment legislation”.

In an e-mail to staff yesterday, Anglo chief executive Mike Aynsley said staff directly affected by the announcement would be briefed by management as soon as possible.

About 90 of the Anglo staff transferring to AIB are based in Ireland, with about 70 in the UK and 50 in the Isle of Man.

Permanent TSB chief executive David Guinane confirmed that management was seeking a meeting with representatives of staff transferring to the bank from Irish Nationwide.

“We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to the bank and we will work closely with them over the coming weeks to ensure that their transition to Permanent TSB bank takes place smoothly.”

In its statement, AIB said it welcomed its 120,000 new customers and 210 new staff and said it would “ensure that any disruption for both would be minimal”.