THE national secretary of the Manufacturing, Science and Finance trade union, Mr John Tierney, has criticised the "macho British-style" approach to industrial relations of Irish Life and warned that the union could not afford to lose in the current dispute.
Mr Tierney was referring, at Saturday's union conference in Belfast, to a "lock-out" of its members, which has lasted for 12 weeks, in an industrial relations battle with Irish Life.
Mr Tierney asked: "Why are they locked out? They didn't go on strike. They are locked out because, in eight years, this company has produced four plans to restructure and revitalise the field sales force."
At the first conference of the MSF 4o be held in Northern Ireland. its president, Mr Michael Sharp, called on the men of violence to lay down their arms for good.
Mr John Freeman, president of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions, said that without peace there could be no guarantee of economic recovery in Northern Ireland.
On the Irish Life situation Mr Tierney said: "There were failures, incompetence, lack of credibility. Our members, in December, 1996, warned the chief executive that things were in a dire state and there was going to be a dispute in this company. We even brought an expert in from the Irish Productivity Centre to explain there was a better way of doing business. They ignored us. Unfortunately, we have been proved right.
"We cannot afford to lose this strike because what we have got is a Thatcherite UK mentality running that organisation who think they are running a life insurance company in the south of England somewhere and we have to bring home the force of the sophistication of Irish industrial relations to them. And by God we are going to win". Mr Tierney said.
"In financial services, industrial relations have been calm and positive in most companies, with the notable exception of Irish Life. Irish Life want to introduce new technology and efficiency.
"MSF is in favour of new technology and efficiency. This has always been our approach in every company we deal with, on two conditions - that there are no job losses and that they pay people for the higher productivity they will - deliver with new technology," he told delegates.
"While they expect most of our sales staff to work harder for nothing extra, the four people at the top of the company, the executive and directors, paid themselves a total package of over £1 million last year, including a 17 per cent salary rise for each of them."
He thanked MSF members and branches throughout the country for the support and solidarity they had shown for members in the Irish Life dispute.
Meanwhile, senior delegates at the MSF conference were obviously delighted at an agreement with Royal Assurance and Sun Alliance. It has been hailed as a benchmark deal in union negotiation.
Under the deal there will be no involuntary redundancies and a maintenance of existing job quality. Staff reduction will be achieved by voluntary severance, early retirement and normal staff turnover.
The 500 staff working for the company voted in a ballot by a significant majority to accept the deal, which was reached after six weeks of negotiations between union and management.
The deputy national secretary of the MSF, Mr Jerry Shanahan, said: "In May, 1996, Royal Assurance and Sun Alliance announced that they were to merge and that this process would lead to 10 per cent cuts in staffing across the two companies worldwide, including Ireland.
"At the conclusion of our talks with Royal/Sun Alliance the companies have accepted that there will be no compulsory job losses, unlike the UK, where 5,000 members of staff have been made redundant," he said.
Mr Shanahan said the acceptance of a partnership approach by both sides to the negotiations and the removal of the threat to job security and quality were central to the speedy negotiation and acceptance of the deal, which set a benchmark for the rest of the industry.
A similar partnership approach was the key to dealing successfully with the changes taking place within the insurance and financial services' industries.
"Mergers, acquisitions and consolidations are a major feature of the industry at the moment and are being driven largely by shareholders. However, managements will have to realise that their staff are vital stakeholders in their business and that their strategic objectives can only be achieved if they can harness the skill, enthusiasm and commitment of their staff.
"The agreement reached between Royal Assurance, Sun Alliance and their staff shows how involving the staff's union in a partnership approach is indeed the way forward," Mr Shanahan said.