Union leaders today said they were confounded at Bank of Ireland's plan to press ahead with cuts in staff pension schemes as it announced record profits.
The bank reported pre-tax profits of €887 million for the six months to the end of September, up 5 per cent on the same period a year ago.
But Larry Broderick, general secretary of the Irish Bank Officials Association (IBOA), said employees were being penalised for boosting business.
"It is through the hard work and commitment of Bank of Ireland staff that the bank is in a position to report record profits," he said.
"There is no doubt that senior executives will be quick to reward themselves massive bonus payments and pension contributions on foot of these results, while at the same time, and with no shame, they will take away a decent pension from young and vulnerable staff."
Hundreds of Bank of Ireland workers have been embroiled in an increasingly bitter dispute with management over changes to the pension scheme. The new system, which the bank says is a hybrid of defined benefit and defined contribution pension models, was introduced for new staff last month.
Pickets were placed on the bank's head office on Dublin's Baggot Street earlier this week and further stoppages are planned.
Members of the Amicus union will picket the bank's offices in the IFSC, Dublin, on Wednesday of next week.
The IBOA, the largest union at the bank, held talks on the issue last week at the Labour Court, and a ruling is due.
PA