FSU survey in AIB shows staff are struggling to cope with the increased cost-of-living.

AIB refusal to discuss pay deal at odds with their competitors as Union and Bank head to the WRC.

The Financial Services Union ( FSU ) have today published results of their pay survey in AIB which according to Billy Barrett, Senior Industrial Relations Officer with the FSU highlights the need for an agreed top up to pay for staff who are struggling to cope with the increased cost-of-living.

The FSU and AIB negotiated a three year pay deal in 2022 which included a pay increase of 3% for 2023.

Commenting on the results of the survey and the implications for workers in AIB Mr Barrett, Senior Industrial Relation Officer with the FSU said :

“The Central Statistics Office (CSO)  latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) shows food prices up by more than 13 per cent year on the year which is reflected in an increase in prices across a range of products such as sugar (38.9 per cent), milk (24.1 per cent), butter (18.9 per cent), and eggs (18.3 per cent) compared with April 2022.

The FSU and AIB agreed to a three year pay deal in 2022 which included a pay increase of 3% for 2023. The pay deal was reached when inflation was considerably lower than it is currently, and the cost-of-living pressures were not as acute.

The FSU have already agreed a top up to the 2023 pay deal in Bank of Ireland and staff in AIB deserve similar treatment.

Many members left comments in the survey on how the current cost of living crisis is impacting on them personally with issues including, mortgage rate increases, food inflation and fuel inflation having a real impact on household budgets.

It is clear the 3-Year Pay deal is no longer sufficient to meet staff needs and it is regrettable that AIB have refused to engage constructively on the issue. 

AIB is a very profitable company, owned by the Irish state. It should be actively supporting its staff through this challenging time and setting the standards for others to follow.

Unfortunately, this is not the case and the FSU have now submitted a claim to the Workplace Relations Commission ( WRC ) which will be heard tomorrow, Tuesday 27^th June.”

ENDS

Survey – Key Findings

Over 2,000 members responded, and the key findings in relation to current workload were:

• 39% respondents stated that their workload had dramatically increased,
• 41% respondents stated that they were understaffed,

When asked to prioritise the options available to address the increases in the cost-of-living the results were: