Financial Services Union Annual Report 2021

A Message from John O'Connell, General Secretary

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Dear Colleagues,

The beginning of the year brought heartbreak and sickness to countless families in Ireland. Data produced in January 2021 showed that Ireland had the highest daily number of new confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world for every million people. Schools were closed and people feared for their own and their family’s wellbeing. It was a tough and challenging time, but Irish people are resilient and as the year progressed and vaccination programmes were put in place the outlook improved.

I would like to pay tribute to all the front-line staff who put their own welfare at risk to help others and to offer my condolences to those who lost loved ones.

We will never forget the tragedy that covid inflicted and the heroic sacrifices of so many people. Bank branches remained open throughout the year and staff continued to provide a professional customer service under incredibly challenging circumstances.

There was speculation that Ulster Bank would announce they would be exiting the Irish market and unfortunately this was confirmed on the 19th of February 2021.

The FSU had campaigned to SAVE OUR ULSTER BANK and to try and convince NatWest to maintain an Ulster Bank presence in the Republic of Ireland. When the announcement came, we immediately became focussed on retaining as many jobs as possible. The work is still underway, and we remain committed to ensure as many jobs as possible, with the best conditions are maintained as staff transfer with the work to new Banks.

The announcement by KBC in April 2021 that it was also to exit the Irish Banking market came as a surprise to everyone and added to the considerable unrest that was already evident in the retail banking market. Again, the Unions main objective was to protect jobs and conditions and to ensure that TUPE would apply in any transfers of loans. We remain committed to protecting these jobs and in providing any assistance necessary to staff.

The future of Banking cannot resemble what it looked like in the past and it was with that in mind that the FSU produced a policy paper outlining the Unions vision for a stakeholder version of Banking that would have staff and customers at the core of its decision-making process. We called for a forum on Banking both in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland and I was delighted that at our triennial conference in Belfast Conor Murphy MLA Minister of Finance in Northern Ireland announced a banking forum for Northern Ireland and in November Minister Paschal Donohoe TD. published the terms of reference for a banking review in the Republic of Ireland. The FSU will partake fully in both fora’s and make the case for a new more collaborative approach to Banking which values and rewards staff and customers.

Abolishing the gender pay gap, the adoption of domestic violence workplace policies, fully paid parental and maternity leave are issues that the Union organised campaigns, lobbied Banks, and politicians to resolve. We produced a report on abolishing the Gender Pay Gap and presented the report to Minister Roderic O’ Gorman at the gates of Dáil Eireann. We agreed a domestic violence workplace policy with Danske Bank and are working with the other banks to agree similar policies. We secured fully paid paternity and maternity pay in all the Banks and produced a report to highlight the Menopause as a workplace issue.

In the Game and Animator sector we continue to look for fair wages, paid overtime, and the creation of an industry where secure, well-paid jobs are the norm.

It has been an incredibly busy and eventful year. Thank you all for your help and support. It is a pleasure and an honour to be General Secretary of our Union.

John O’Connell
General Secretary