Bank union says nationalisation would cost 10,000 jobs
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A union has calculated that twice as many workers will be sacked if NAMA does not tackle the banking crisis.
The Irish Bank Officials' Association (IBOA) said that up to 10,000 rather than 5,000 positions would go if the State bought the banks instead.
After weighing up the options for its 23,000 members, IBOA said the so-called toxic-bank option was the wisest choice and time had run out to pursue other strategies.
The union was not prepared to give exact calculations for the job losses it expected at individual financial institutions as it did not want to "show its hand" during negotiations with management.
But based on the 1,000 job cuts already announced at the third largest retail institution, Ulster Bank, it estimated that 5,000 positions were at risk across the sector.
The IBOA said it would expect larger-scale redundancy plans at the bigger institutions, which could include AIB or Bank of Ireland, although no proposals had yet been put to the union. However, it said it agreed with predictions by analysts that up to 10,000 job losses would result from a state takeover of the main institutions.
Losses
IBOA general secretary Larry Broderick said that job losses would happen no matter which option was pursued.
But the greatest redundancies would happen in a state-ownership scenario, which would be an "Armageddon" for the industry.
He said nationalisation of the banks would push up the cost of state borrowing as international investors are wary of state-run enterprises. The State would then be sorely tempted to push down costs and cut payrolls by pruning staff, reducing pay, and consolidation, he said.
"If there were five state-owned banks, there would be huge pressure on the Government to reduce that number to two, and possibly one," said a spokesperson for the union.
"It is hard to see how a government of any complexion could justify five state-owned banks operating simultaneously.
"NAMA is not perfect but the rate of job attrition is likely to be lower. The cost to banks of being part of Nama is likely to lead to some job losses.
"We are anticipating that there will be a general contraction in the industry from next year onwards when the banks will be reviewing their staffing levels."
IBOA represents workers at Bank of Ireland, AIB, Irish Nationwide, National Irish, Northern Bank, Ulster Bank and managers at Irish Life and Permanent. It has no involvement in two of the banks covered by the government guarantee, Anglo Irish and EBS.
IBOA denied that its stance would put it on a collision course with other unions.
The union's view would seem to conflict with that of the trade unions' umbrella body, The Irish Congress of Trade Unions.
ICTU general secretary David Begg has called for the nationalisation of the banks as the best option for workers.
Mr Begg said earlier this year that he believed that, sooner rather than later, the whole banking system would have to be nationalised.
"There is no other route to ensuring that we have an effective banking system in place, and we cannot put off that decision indefinitely," he said.
- Anne-Marie Walsh Industry Correspondent
