'A sad and difficult day' for Ulster Bank staff as 250 face redundancy in Northern Ireland

Today’s (Wednesday) announcement by Ulster Bank that 250 bank staff based in Northern Ireland are to be made redundant over the coming 12 months has been described as ‘a sad and difficult day for workers and their families’ by Financial Services Union (FSU) chief.

Ulster Bank revealed that there would be a further 813 redundancies as part to their overall withdrawal process from the Irish market. Over 250 of these staff are based in Northern Ireland with the remainder based in the Republic of Ireland.

Gareth said: “Today is a sad and difficult day for all Ulster Bank staff and their families who have given so much to the bank and its customers over many years.

“As a Union, throughout this difficult process we have managed to secure improved redundancy terms and protected jobs with staff transferring to other banks. We have also managed to secure up to 100 jobs with staff transferring to new roles within NatWest.

“There is more that can be done. Remote working has many benefits. It opens up the possibility of staff based in Northern Ireland undertaking work across the entire NatWest network. NatWest is a large company employing thousands of people. There is a clear onus on NatWest to fully explore any opportunity to redeploy staff across its network.

“These are very skilled, professional staff, who know and understand the financial needs of business and people. It is important their knowledge and skillsets are not lost. The FSU will continue to support our members over the coming days and months.”