Belgian banking group KBC, which owns KBC Ireland (formerly IIB Bank), said it would meet union representatives later today to discuss financial and economic conditions, leaving union leaders wondering if job cuts are in store.
"We are going to look in a proactive way at how we can, let's say, safeguard the strong financial position of KBC in view of the worsened economic conditions that we see around us," KBC spokeswoman Viviane Huybrecht said.
She declined to say whether KBC and the union representatives would discuss job cuts. However, union leader Stefaan Decock said he expects talk of job cuts to be on the agenda.
"We really don't know what is on the agenda - we expect things like job cuts, maybe proposals on payments or bonuses," said Decock, who is national secretary for the financial sector in LBC-NVK, the Christian white-collar trade union for the private sector in Belgium's Flanders region.
Though Decock said he doesn't expect good news with regard to jobs, salaries or bonuses, he added that it is unclear whether the anticipated cost cuts will come to Belgium, or to Russia or the Central and Eastern European countries in which KBC also operates.
As of the end of 2007, KBC had a total of 56,715 full-time employees world-wide, with 19,196 in Belgium and 31,947 in Central and Eastern Europe and Russia.
Pia Desmet, Decock's socialist counterpart, said she is in wait-and-see mode.
"We know only that it's a plan on restructuring, but on what - jobs, pensioners, employees, what - we don't know and must wait for the meeting," said Desmet.
Both Decock and Huybrecht said that in the past, KBC and its union representatives have been able to negotiate well.
"We've always had very constructive dialogues (with trade union representatives)," Huybrecht said. "I'm sure they're also aware of the very exceptional circumstances that everyone is in."
In October, KBC received €3.5 billion from the Belgian government to boost its capital. Banks operating in Belgium - Fortis, Dexia, ING and new arrival BNP Paribas - had all received some form of government support in the face of the financial crisis.