THE IRISH Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) has reached an agreement with Northern Bank, sister bank to National Irish Bank in the Republic, in which it anticipates no compulsory redundancies at the bank until June 2012.

The agreement between the IBOA and the bank was reached within the last week in an effort to improve industrial relations.

The union hopes to conclude a similar agreement in the Republic safeguarding 649 jobs at National Irish Bank, which, like Northern, is owned by Danish bank Danske.

"While other financial institutions in Ireland and Britain have announced plans to downsize in recent months as a result of the global credit crunch, Northern Bank has given a major commitment on job security to its staff of over 1,800," the IBOA said.

The bank has agreed that where it makes organisational changes, it will find suitable alternative jobs for affected staff with appropriate training and support, and will ensure their salaries and other benefits are not affected.

Northern Bank chief executive Gerry Mallon said the agreement reflected the bank's "confidence in our staff and in our ability to work together to develop the business, even in these challenging times".

Mr Mallon said the bank would "continue to redeploy affected staff with protection to terms and conditions" when organisational change was necessary. IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said the agreement was "a historic development" which reflected the improved relationship between the union and the bank.

The union was part of an international agreement signed last week in Denmark between Danske and Uni, the global union of which the IBOA is an affiliate, on employment rights with the group.

Mr Broderick said the agreement established "an important context for building better relationships within Danske".