Talks were continuing last night to avert a threatened strike at EBS – a subsidiary of the AIB group – over a bonus payment.

The union Unite said last week that staff were planning a one-day stoppage this month unless progress was made on dealing with the row over the bonus payment by a deadline of last night. It had previously said that if pickets were placed as part of the dispute, they could be extended to selected AIB branches.

The dispute centres around the payment of a bonus, known as the 13th month payment, which the union said was a contractual element of annual pay but which was discontinued in 2011. Following a one-day strike in late 2011, half of the bonus was paid to EBS staff.

Remainder
Earlier this year the Labour Court ruled the bonus should be discontinued, but the remainder of the amount due from 2011 be given to staff. The union said management at EBS/AIB had failed to pay the balance of the payment.

Talks between management and the union collapsed last week. Subsequently, on foot of communication received from management and an invitation received from the Labour Relations Commission last Wednesday, Unite members decided their representatives should engage in further talks but that, if no progress was made, the union should serve strike notice on September 17th. In that event, staff decided any one-day strike should take place before September 30th.