Stakeholders and Shareholders should benefit from Bank of Ireland profits – say FSU

Banking review should re-evaluate the role of stakeholders in the banking system

John O’Connell, General Secretary of the Financial Services Union (FSU) has called on Bank of Ireland (BOI) and the other main retail Banks to re-evaluate their constant desire to reward their shareholders while ignoring their main stakeholders.

Commenting on the announcement by Bank of Ireland of over 1.4 billion euro in profits Mr O’Connell said:

“The announcement by Bank of Ireland of enormous profits is testament to the relentless dedication of staff working under incredibly challenging conditions providing professional and customer friendly support for customers around the Country.

This is also true of staff throughout the sector who have seen their workload increase dramatically as Banks continue to cut staff numbers.

Banks need to realise that staff are their main stakeholders and should be treated as equal partners when profits are distributed.

The main reason they can pay dividends is because of the work done by staff. Equal reward for stakeholders and shareholders would send a strong signal that Banks are working towards a new future of partnership in the sector. Bank of Ireland clearly has sufficient resources to address systemic issues like a gender pay gap of 24% and chronic understaffing in branch and telephone services.

On the wider issue of banking reform Mr O’Connell said:

“The FSU believe that the Banking Review which is now underway needs to look at how we can reform the banking system with a greater emphasis on stakeholders.

Advancing the concerns of staff, customers, and the wider society as well as shareholders will increase customer loyalty, employee retention and investor confidence.

The Banking Review gives us a real opportunity to scrutinise how the sector is governed and re-evaluate the role of stakeholders in the banking system”

ENDS