The introduction of a weighting of £2,000 a year for Ulster Bank staff working in Dublin has caused concerns among trade unionists at new pressure to move towards regionalisation of pay rates.
These concerns will be increased by a proposal for the first major public service claim for Dublin weighting, to be considered by the executive of the Irish Nurses Organisation on Monday. The INO has 11,000 members in the Dublin area.
The scheme negotiated by the Ulster Bank and the Irish Bank Officials Association is the first major collective agreement of its kind in the Republic.
It entitles about 1,500 Ulster Bank employees working within 15 miles of Dublin's O'Connell Street to the new allowance, irrespective of age, service, accommodation or travel costs. The allowance is not included in basic pay for pension purposes.
Other people in the financial services sector were surprised at the size of the payment, but not at the introduction of a Dublin weighting.
IBOA assistant general secretary, Mr Larry Broderick, is confident the IBOA will succeed in similar claims with the AIB and Bank of Ireland, although these will be costlier as each has about five times as many employees as Ulster Bank.
One senior trade unionist representing financial services workers, MSF national secretary Mr Jerry Shanahan, says his union has looked at Dublin weighting, but "the trouble is it's very divisive". He says: "Shorter and higher scales, profit sharing and financial participation schemes in general are better ways of retaining staff, and more beneficial in the long run."