Ulster Bank staff back new pay proposals

Ulster Bank staff have voted to accept pay proposals which will see workers get their first pay rise in over three years.

The deal - which covers employees in appointed and clerical grades - means staff will be in line for performance-based pay rises of up to 8 per cent from next year.

The agreement also provides for a once-off lump sum payment of €700 to be paid to staff by the end of this month.

The bank, which returned to profitability earlier this year, received £15.3 billion of bailouts during the financial crisis via its parent Royal Bank of Scotland.

The Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), which represents staff, said its members had approved pay proposals for 2014 and 2015 negotiated between the union and the bank.

"While Ulster Bank continues on the road to recovery, it is appropriate that the employees who have sacrificed so much in very difficult circumstances should be acknowledged for their contribution," IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said, noting that these increases will be the first for the most Ulster Bank staff since 2011.

On Tuesday, the bank announced a deal to sell a €1.4 billion portfolio of Irish property loans, which had been housed in its own internal bad bank - to an entity controlled by US private equity vehicle Cerberus.