Union calls off industrial action at Bank of Scotland Ireland

STAFF AT Bank of Scotland Ireland have deferred their planned industrial action next week after Lloyds Banking Group confirmed yesterday it had signed a deal with the management team in Ireland to administer the wind-down of its €33 billion loan book here.

Led by Joe Higgins, the management group will set up an independent service company to administer the bank’s loan book.

It is understood that a seven-year contract has been agreed with the management team, although the wind-down is likely to take many more years. Lloyds also plans to outsource its IT needs to IBM, with about 35 staff transferring from BoSI’s IT division.

Mr Higgins wrote to trade union Unite yesterday and asked it to defer its industrial action pending talks with the service company. Unite represents about 600 of the 850 staff at BoSI.

Brian Gallagher, a regional organiser with Unite, confirmed to The Irish Times that industrial action had been postponed.

Talks with management will take place next Monday to see if a deal can be brokered relating to the transfer of staff to the service company. “This may bring some clarity to the situation,” Mr Gallagher added. “We will see now if they can negotiate with us.”

Unite had complained that meaningful negotiations on the transfer of staff and their terms and conditions had not taken place, and threatened to take action on October 20th. The union was due to give notice of the action to the bank yesterday.

The management team who will form the independent service company are Mr Higgins; head of risk, Martin Akers; Tom FitzGerald, chief financial officer; human resources chief Gavin Lyng; Siona Meghen, head of strategy; and head of business supports, Mark Mohan.

Lloyds announced its intention to wind down BoSI’s activities here on August 19th. It will hand back its Irish banking licence and close to deposits, current accounts and new lending by December 31st.

Some 36 staff will be made redundant as it closes its deposit-taking, wealth management and treasury activities here. But more than 800 will transfer to the service company to manage the wind-down of loans.

Lloyds has guaranteed that there will be no more compulsory redundancies until at least 2012.

It has also offered to pay a retention bonus of 50 per cent of salary to BoSI staff who remain with the business. A salary review is also planned for 2011.

Mr Gallagher said that Unite would continue to seek a 49.9 per cent stake in the service company for staff. The union wants staff to benefit from any bonus that might be paid by Lloyds for a speedy wind-down of BoSI’s loan book.

This request is expected to be rejected by management.