Ulster Bank to pay further 4% pay hike to lower-paid staff

Ulster Bank has agreed to pay an additional 4 per cent pay increase to more than 1,000 staff earning up to €45,300 a year to help them to deal with the cost-of-living crisis, even as the lender prepares for waves of redundancies as it retreats from the Republic in the coming years.

The move is in line with a pay increase extended by the wider NatWest Group to lower-paid staff to help shield them from soaring price rises.

The pay hike will take effect from September and comes in addition to a 4 per cent salary staff increase agreed in February with the Financial Services Union (FSU) to cover most employees.

“We have been in talks with the bank for the last couple of weeks and are pleased that the bank has responded well and has agreed to a plan to help address the rising cost of living for those on lower pay in the bank,” said Gareth Murphy, head of industrial relations and campaigns with the FSU said.

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“In practical terms this will mean well over a thousand workers who are on the first two pay levels in Ulster Bank will receive an 8 per cent increase in pay in 2022.”

The Central Bank warned in its latest quarterly bulletin on Thursday that Irish inflation could reach and exceed 10 per cent later this year.

Ulster Bank in the Republic had almost 2,000 permanent staff at the end of last year. About 730 employees are on track to transfer to AIB and Permanent TSB as part of loan book sales.

Ulster Bank is not planning wide-scale redundancies until next year, as its keeps branches open to deal with customers moving their banking activities elsewhere.