Mulvey to chair talks between union and B of I

Labour Relations Commission chief executive Kieran Mulvey will chair negotiations between Bank of Ireland and union officials over plans by the bank to shed 2,100 jobs and close 10 branches.

Both sides met yesterday for the first time following the bank's announcement of proposals to cut €120 million a year in costs from the organisation. The proposals have drawn a furious response from unions and staff.

While the meeting served mainly to allow both sides set down their respective positions, it was agreed to invite Mr Mulvey to act as independent chairman to "facilitate discussions".

Mr Mulvey has agreed to act in that capacity for the talks which will begin next week.

He is well known to both sides, having acted in a similar capacity in the dispute over the bank's outsourcing of its IT support division to Hewlett-Packard in August 2003.

Following yesterday's meeting, Larry Broderick, general secretary of the Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA), said the union has told the bank it would not co-operate in implementing the bank's "totally unacceptable" proposals.

He said they outlined, "in the most forceful manner, the anger and furious reaction" of staff to news of the job cuts - amounting to 12 per cent of the bank's 17,000-strong workforce in Ireland and Britain - bank closures and outsourcing at a time when the bank was reporting expected profits of €1.3 billion.

"IBOA explained to the bank that their proposals are totally unacceptable," he said.

Bank of Ireland spokesman Dan Loughrey said it had emphasised at the meeting the need for "full implementation of the change programme in order to maintain its competitiveness and to deliver enhanced customer service".

He said it had been a positive meeting. "We agreed a process, including the appointment of Mr Mulvey as an independent chairman," he said.

"We also agreed to hold a series of meetings starting next week and we agreed the need to reach agreement within an early timeframe."

Mr Broderick said the bank had committed itself to enter "meaningful negotiations" and to share the detailed information regarding where job losses and branch closures were proposed.

The IBOA said the bank had also agreed to defer implementation of its proposals "pending conclusion of Mr Mulvey's process".

The bank has said it intends to complete the restructuring process over four years. It welcomed the acknowledgement by the IBOA of the need to reach agreement within an early timeframe.

"We have made a commitment to the scale of the cost reduction required and that remains our position," said Mr Loughrey.

"We are looking to change the structure of the business and that is what produces the savings and determines how the 2,100 figure is made up."

He said there was little scope for saving the required amount elsewhere in the business.

"There is no point in taking costs out and then putting them back in again," he said.