MEMBERS OF STAFF at Aviva are to be balloted over whether to pursue industrial action as a result of the job losses being imposed at the insurance company.
Members of the UNITE trade union at a meeting unanimously agreed to a ballot on strike action at a meeting in Dublin this evening, complaining about the poor details being offered of the 950 jobs being lost.
While Aviva says the jobs will go between early next year and March 2014, it has not said where the jobs will go or on what basis.
UNITE regional officer Brian Gallagher said the Dublin meeting had been “angry and determined”.
“Aviva remains immensely profitable and we will not accept compulsory redundancies; we will not accept a voluntary package below what our members deserve; we will not facilitate the removal of jobs from Ireland without negotiated agreement.”
The balloting will commence after the union holds staff meetings in other Aviva locations, after which the union will also begin negotiations with management at the insurer, which employs 1,770 people in Ireland. UNITE represents around three-quarters of that number.
Further staff meetings will be held in Galway, in Cork on Friday and in Portlaoise on Monday night.
“Staff will not roll over and allow their jobs be taken away without justification of every change and agreement over the terms on which any redundancies are made,” Gallagher added.
UNITE says it is keen to ensure that the maximum number of “high skilled, sustainable jobs” are maintained in Aviva’s Irish operations.
Aviva earlier said it would try to achieve as many redundancies as possible through voluntary means, but did not issue any details about potential redundancy packages.
An AVIVA spokesperson was unavailable for comment this evening.
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