Business

Mediation sought to broker pay deal between PTSB and unions

Unite submitted 13% claim for 2024 last year after lender returned to post-Covid profitability

Unite submitted its pay claim last year after PTSB chief executive Eamonn Crowley indicated that the bank may soon be in a position to resume paying dividends to shareholders. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

Ian Curran
Fri Mar 29 2024 - 06:00

The Workplace Relations Commission (WRC) has been asked to mediate a dispute between PTSB and workers represented by trade unions Unite and the Financial Services Union (FSU) over a proposed pay increase.

The bank, which declined to comment, is understood to have made an offer significantly lower than the general pay increase sought this year by Unite, which represents a majority of workers at the lender.

The union said last August it was submitting a claim for 13 per cent for 2024 after PTSB chief executive Eamonn Crowley indicated the bank may soon be in a position to resume paying dividends to shareholders. Mr Crowley’s remarks followed publication of the lender’s results for 2022, showing it had returned to profitability after the pandemic with a €267 million pretax profit.

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PTSB, which has not paid a dividend since before the financial crisis, subsequently secured approval from financial regulators to return to making payouts, which it is expected to do over the coming years.

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PTSB, Unite and the FSU, which represents managers at the bank after securing a collective bargaining agreement last year, will go to the Workplace Relations Commission next Tuesday seeking a mediated outcome to the dispute.

Mediation is a voluntary process offered by the WRC to assist stakeholders in coming to a mutually acceptable outcome. If an agreement is reached between the two sides, members of both unions will be asked whether they accept or reject the deal in a ballot.

Gareth Murphy, head of industrial relations and campaigns at the FSU, said: “Staff in PTSB have worked tirelessly over the last number of years transforming PTSB into a profitable and sustainable bank. It is time staff were rewarded fairly for their professionalism and dedication in providing a first-class customer service”

Last August Unite regional officer Jean O’Dowd said the union’s members had taken a real pay cut of 4 per cent since the last pay deal was negotiated in 2022 due to the soaring cost of living. “Management should be in no doubt regarding our members’ determination to achieve a real pay increase,” she said.

Ian Curran

Ian Curran

Ian Curran is a Business reporter with The Irish Times

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