Bank of Ireland IT staff to strike from midnight

Bank of Ireland customers are likely to experience some inconvenience tomorrow as 200 staff at its information technology division, ITSIS, begin a 24-hour strike at midnight tonight.

Last night the bank said it would take all necessary steps to minimise the impact on the normal services it offers to customers in the run up to the bank holiday weekend.

ITSIS provides support for the operation of many of the bank's key services, such as ATMs and internet banking. The stoppage begins 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 Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA) has also decided to ban its members from working overtime from midnight until the dispute is resolved, which could curtail the bank's ability to respond to any processing back-logs, emergency situations and break-downs in technology.

Talks between the bank and the IBOA collapsed yesterday evening, as neither side could agree on a formula to allay staff concerns about job security. The work stoppage was postponed last week following the intervention of the Labour Relations Commission (LRC).

Some 200 of the 300 staff at ITSIS will tomorrow picket their headquarters at Cabinteely, Co Dublin, in protest at the terms under which Bank of Ireland wants to outsource these activities to Hewlett-Packard.

It has agreed a seven-year €600 million contract with the multinational IT services group.

The 100 non-union members are expected to continue to work as normal. Some 528 staff are affected by the proposed outsourcing agreement.

An IBOA spokesman said it could not accept proposals made by the bank through the LRC director of conciliation, Mr Ray Magee, yesterday.

The IBOA is seeking a guarantee that the ITSIS staff, who would transfer to Hewlett-Packard, will have secure employment for the seven-year duration of the contract.

The bank has offered job security for two years and has offered to pay one year's salary if any redundancies arise at that point but has refused to move beyond that. It has refused to offer staff a passport back to the bank if Hewlett-Packard were to seek redundancies from their ranks.