i_didnt_do_nawtin
22-07-2009, 03:38 PM
* Union wants performance-related pay increases
* Bank of Ireland: no increases due to deflation, recession
* Life business targeted by strike made loss last year
DUBLIN, July 22 (Reuters) - The UNITE trade union's 500 members at Bank of Ireland's (BKIR.I) insurance and pension units will hold a one-day strike over wages, UNITE said on Wednesday.
The union will picket the group's central Dublin headquarters and the nearby offices of its New Ireland Assurance unit throughout Thursday, it said.
"The action is being taken in light of the Bank of Ireland's refusal to implement a Labour Court recommendation issued last month in relation to agreed merit-based payments to the staff involved," the union said.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland said the group was disappointed by the union's strike plans but it could not award bonuses or increases in pay.
She said an increase based on the cost of living was not justified in a period of deflation.
The life business was in the red according to latest annual figures for the year to the end of March, she said. More than 10,000 electricians held a week-long strike nationwide over pay earlier this month, disrupting work at scores of construction sites and factories, with unions threatening more action if the government implements cutbacks in the public sector. [ID:nLG59732] [ID:nLB482803]
UNITE said its members, most on salaries of less than 30,000 euros ($42,580), had taken a 12 percent salary cut this year "because of the non-payment of company-elated performance payments".
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; editing by Padraic Halpin, John Stonestreet)
(andras.gergely@reut ers.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reute rs.com@reuters.net)) ($1=.7046 Euro)
Unions...
* Bank of Ireland: no increases due to deflation, recession
* Life business targeted by strike made loss last year
DUBLIN, July 22 (Reuters) - The UNITE trade union's 500 members at Bank of Ireland's (BKIR.I) insurance and pension units will hold a one-day strike over wages, UNITE said on Wednesday.
The union will picket the group's central Dublin headquarters and the nearby offices of its New Ireland Assurance unit throughout Thursday, it said.
"The action is being taken in light of the Bank of Ireland's refusal to implement a Labour Court recommendation issued last month in relation to agreed merit-based payments to the staff involved," the union said.
A spokeswoman for Bank of Ireland said the group was disappointed by the union's strike plans but it could not award bonuses or increases in pay.
She said an increase based on the cost of living was not justified in a period of deflation.
The life business was in the red according to latest annual figures for the year to the end of March, she said. More than 10,000 electricians held a week-long strike nationwide over pay earlier this month, disrupting work at scores of construction sites and factories, with unions threatening more action if the government implements cutbacks in the public sector. [ID:nLG59732] [ID:nLB482803]
UNITE said its members, most on salaries of less than 30,000 euros ($42,580), had taken a 12 percent salary cut this year "because of the non-payment of company-elated performance payments".
(Reporting by Andras Gergely; editing by Padraic Halpin, John Stonestreet)
(andras.gergely@reut ers.com; +35315001518; Reuters Messaging: andras.gergely.reute rs.com@reuters.net)) ($1=.7046 Euro)
Unions...