Unions and staff angry at losses

Union leaders and politicians yesterday roundly condemned Bank of Ireland's plan to cut more than 2,000 jobs as part of a cost reduction programme.

The Irish Bank Officials' Association said it would not co-operate with the programme and could not rule out industrial action.

Labour's employment spokesman, Brendan Howlin, and Socialist TD Joe Higgins both accused the bank of greed, while Fine Gael's Richard Bruton said the bank had failed to mention the word "customer" in public statements yesterday.

The trade union Amicus also condemned the cuts and said it would do all it could to resist them. IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said staff were "furious" at the decision to seek 2,100 redundancies "at a time when the bank was recording historic profit levels in excess of €1.3 billion". "This is corporate greed at its most vulgar... aimed at maximising short-term shareholder value at the expense of staff, customers and the future well-being of the bank itself," he said.

"This contrasts sharply with the approach taken by all other domestic and international competitors who are focused on income growth, increased employment and enhanced customer service."

Mr Broderick said the union would consult with its members on a strategy to resist "these ill-considered and savage cuts".

Amicus, which represents nearly 400 staff in the Bank of Ireland group, condemned the decision to announce the job cuts without prior negotiation and consultation.

Mr Howlin said the bank's success in recent years had been based on the contribution made by its staff. The planned redundancies were evidence of "the type of unnecessary greed that exists at senior level in Ireland's major banks".

Mr Bruton, Fine Gael's finance spokesman, said cost savings in the banking sector to date had not been passed on to customers and there was no evidence to suggest it would be different on this occasion.