Bank of Ireland customers may have to suffer some inconvenience in the run-up to next week's bank holiday weekend as 200 staff at its information technology division, ITSIS, begin 24-hour strike action from midnight on Thursday. Siobhán Creaton, Finance Correspondent, reports.
The Labour Relations Commission (LRC) intervened yesterday to try to avert this fresh threat of strike action, inviting Bank of Ireland and the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) to talks on Wednesday. Both have said they will attend.
The LRC's intervention comes after the majority IBOA's 200 ITSIS members rejected proposals designed to allay their concerns about the outsourcing of IT activities to Hewlett-Packard.
The IBOA yesterday announced that these staff, who would transfer to Hewlett-Packard, will begin a 24-hour strike from midnight on Thursday.
The trade union has also decided to ban its members from working overtime from that date until this dispute is resolved.
Both sides appeared to be unwilling to compromise on the key sticking point - the job security of staff who transfer to Hewlett-Packard under the seven-year contract.
IBOA general secretary Mr Larry Broderick said the bank appeared to be willing to "throw money" at this problem rather than deal with the central issue.
"If Bank of Ireland and Hewlett-Packard will get benefits over seven years from this contract, why can't the staff be given the option of redeployment to the bank over that period?" he said.
Bank of Ireland said it was disappointed with the outcome of the ballot, with a spokesman adding that he believed the IBOA's demands were unreasonable. "We believe that this is good for the bank and it will go ahead," he said.
The bank said it was happy that it had the necessary support in place to ensure that there is no disruption to customers as a result of the 24-hour strike.
About 300 staff work at ITSIS, which is based in Cabinteely in Dublin and provides support for the operation of many of the bank's key services, such as ATMs and internet banking.
Bank of Ireland insists the strike will not have an impact on its branches or its customers, although the IBOA has signalled that it could cause substantial disruption.
IBOA members will picket the ITSIS offices on Thursday although the 100 non-union members are expected to continue to work as normal.
The stoppage will come at the end of the month, a time when banks are finalising and processing many transactions for their customers. The strike is expected to disrupt these activities.
The ban on overtime will also be problematic as it will curtail the bank's ability to respond to any processing back-logs or to respond to emergency situations and break-downs in technology.
At the end of lengthy discussions this week, Bank of Ireland confirmed a guarantee of no compulsory redundancies for two years from the date of transfer. It has also agreed to guarantee a further one year's salary in the event of compulsory redundancy.
Any redundancy pay will be equivalent to six weeks' pay for each year of service with a minimum of three-months' pay up to a maximum of two years. Staff have also been offered €400 per year of service with a minimum of €3,500 in compensation for their transfer.
