FOR Irish Life's managers the complex dispute with its field sales force boils down to one simple problem the employees are resisting the proposed changes because they fear change.

The sales force, on the other hand, also see what is essentially a complicated set of proposals coming down to one simple issue they don't trust management.

The dispute, which has already seen Irish Life serve dismissal notices on more than 30 staff and threaten to dismiss its 420 strong sales force, has been simmering for weeks. It has dragged Irish Life unwillingly into the limelight, created bad publicity for the former State owned company and shown up deep divisions among the workforce and its managers.

At first glance the issue does deem simple Irish Life want the sales force to work to the new management structures while all the surrounding issues are thrashed out. The sales force do not agree because they fear many other changes will be forced through in the meantime.

At the heart of the dispute lie the changes the company wants to introduce. The company says these changes are necessary to compete in an increasingly competitive marketplace, and to win back the confidence of consumers who no longer trust insurance companies and the products they sell.

The workforce fears the changes will affect their earning capacity and leave them without support in the sales field. Two weeks ago, the 420 sales executives overwhelmingly rejected a formula designed to move the talks forward.

Under this formula, the sales force, known as personal finance advisers (PFAs) would join the new team structures while intensive discussion would take place this month aimed at agreeing various elements of new work practices sought by the company.

If agreement was not possible by the end of August both sides would refer the issues to the Labour Court. Irish Life, which had threatened to discipline PEAs who did not work to the new structures, agreed to suspend these hearings.

In the event it was rejected and following the breakdown of more talks the disciplinary hearings were resumed. Manufacturing, Science Finance (MSF) secretary John Tierney whose union represents the majority of PEAs affected said it was obvious that there was a complete lack of trust between employees and management.

David (not his real name) is a PEA. He says trust is a major issue at the core of the dispute.

David says under the old system there was 14 area offices. Each area had five sales teams with seven to nine on each team. Each team had a sales manager and they in turn reported to a local area manager. The 14 areas were split into three regions Ireland north, Ireland south and Dublin.

The new structure, he explains will remove 14 area managers and reduce the number of sales managers from 70 to 45.

The number of regions will be increased to six.

The new managers will be called personal finance managers (PFMs) and they will have a lot more people working for them and will have to do a lot more administration, he says. In the past the sales manager was seen as a very important sales support. If you were unhappy with your progress he could come on calls with you and advise you where you were going wrong," explains David.

The PEAs are very worried that they will lose support in the field under the new system.

He says Irish Life threw money at the managers and got their agreement and thought they could railroad through other changes. As soon as the managers agreed to the changes, unilateral changes to the PEAs working structures were introduced," he says.

David and the other PEAs and Irish Life disagree on the timeframe for trying to reach agreement on the new structures. Irish Life said they began the discussions last year. David says they only began real negotiations at the end of May. Even then, he says, they were not clear on all areas of what they wanted.

Furthermore he says, Irish Life wants to completely overhaul the commissions payments structure.

The PEAs are worried that they will be doing the same amount of work for less remuneration. He says some PEAs have calculated that their earnings could drop by 20-30 per cent under the new structure.

David says sales executives currently earn around £24,000 per annum, out of which they have to pay car expenses. Their basic pay is around £6,000 per annum, but, this increases depending on the length of service. They get commission for bringing in new business from Irish Life insurance products.

For Jean Wood, Irish Life chief executive (Ireland and UK) the changes are vital. She says they are necessary to regain the confidence of consumers, who are losing faith in insurance salespeople.

The new system, she says, will ensure that sales executives do not sell the product which will net them the best commission. Instead they will carefully assess the consumer's needs and be guided by them.

She agrees that the new system will involve more accountability, but the sales force will get the support necessary from their managers. She says the company is investing £750,000 this year and the same amount next year to retrain staff.

Ms Wood maintains that the changes will not lead to a drop in pay. And she is at a loss to understand why the dispute has reached the level it has.

Virtually everybody in Irish Life accepts the need for change, she says, and three of the sales force grades accepted the changes which, she argues, are necessary to ensure the future of Irish Life.

She points out that the PEAs rejected the recommendation of their own negotiating committee for a formula designed to get the talks moving again.

Ms Wood says Irish Life postponed deadlines on reaching agreement with the PEAs four times. Time is of the essence, she says. The market is extremely competitive and Irish Life's business could be poached by rivals or new entrants.

Besides, the sales executives are now working to structures which don't exist, she says.

Ms Wood says it was necessary to begin dismissing people. We can't have people milling around, doing nothing which many of them are while this dispute drags on."

Although she contends that the company regrets sacking people, the disciplinary hearings will not be abandoned.

Irish Life cannot let one group of people jeopardise the future of everybody in the company, she says. If the dispute continues this will happen, because people in head office will have no work to process from the field sales force.

Regardless of the final outcome, Ms Wood says, Irish Life cannot guarantee that these changes will be the last. "All businesses are constantly in the process of change" says Ms Wood, that is a fact of life".