leave the name calling aside damian!!!!!! take a chill pill im jus having my opinion and AGAIN as im gunna point out in the article it states – This is not performance-related, but is considered a bonus by the Government – meaning it cannot be paid under the terms of the government’s takeover of AIB. WEVE ALL TAKE CUTS THAT THE GOVERMENT HAVE PUT ON US AND WE DONT LIKE IT BUT YOU DONT SEE ME PICKETING OUTSIDE MY JOB!!!!!

@Laura. The staff here have taken the cuts as everyone has such as USC, Increased PRSI and reduced tax credits. If you dont agree with this the you might agree to pay back your employer 4 weeks pay as thats what you are asking the staff to do here. Just because they working in banking does not meen these workers deserve to be treated badly. Again its an annual salary of X amount divided by 13.

hang on a sec Laura….you seem to be good at quoting some of the facts about this case….but not all

EBS reported in their Annual Accounts for 2010 that NO bonuses were paid…and the 13th month was paid..proving that EBS did not consider the payment as a bonus…nor did the Dept of Finance otherwise they would not have allowed it to be paid in 2010, EBS was in state ownership then through a Special Share the Minister of Finance held giving him a 51% share holding in the former building society.

It is considered a bonus by the government because it is under a heading “Christmas Bonus”, but the payment was calculated as a 13th month and actually formed part of the staff wages. PTSB run the exact scheme as EBS,however in staff contacts there its referred as “Annual Payment”…this was paid as normal to staff at Christmas.

Im not going to slag you off or anything,Im taking the assumption you may not have considered or known the above facts, but you cannot in all honestly expect people to work for free, its easy to say people do it all the time as work experience but christ you think people on no more then a wage of 30k who have financial commitments just like anyone else can afford to work for free or have a portion of their wages cut off. Staff in EBS have had pension contributions doubled to 10% of their salary, pay freeze since 2008, staff who’s contracts were based on salary and bonus payments are only getting half their wage also, so its unfair of you to say they have not taken cuts . If your employer stopped a portion of your wage with no notice, after you were told you would be paid as normal, and you see colleagues getting the exact same payment made to them, whether you like to think it or not you would take a stand…your only human. Best of luck to all EBS workers…you have my full support!

I wasn’t singling out you in particular Laura. You just happen to be one of hundreds of contributors that replied without knowing the facts and somehow tried to defend your incorrect assumption with “rabble, rabble, government, rabble, bonus, work for free, rabble, rabble, rabble”….

Laura
really ! I cannot believe that you can be so silly !
There are 52 weeks in the year and yes there are 12 months
BUT they get paid on the same date each month
so for handiness sake they divided 52 by 4 = 13 (a lot of companies pay this method)
and they get the 13th month on the same day in the 12th month
It is not a bonus . it is their entitlement .
Please please read the piece again . ignore what the government are saying , (they are proven liars) think of the workers .They are ordinary people,who are being railroaded.
There is nobody name calling .
I can not understand why you can not see what every body else sees. It is not a bonus .
It was not a cut in pay .They have already taken their pay cuts like you did .This is their wage !
You have a job so you too are lucky!
Would you give up four weeks of your pay ?

Laura, for God’s sake go back to bed

Laura,
If your employer reneged on paying 8% of your annual salary without any consultation just before Christmas I think you might see this in a different light.

Laura what makes you so so angry and bitter about employees fighting for their wages

And Me too no-one is more behind them than I they are being screwed by their bosses and I wish them well in their quest for justice because they are being robbed of 4 weeks pay

Laura what anger you have

last time i checked a calender year was 12months :P ya i agree all workforce should be treated the same managers or no managers no1 should have received a bonus or whatever they call it but this is ireland our goverment are as crooked as you can get!!!

Spot on Caroline! Jimbo, you’re coming across as a bitter little man!! Lighten up and read the facts! If its ok to pay the managers, then it’s only right that the rest of the staff get paid too. Social justice and all that!!

@laura – there are 13 LUNAR months (ie 28 day/4 week cycles)

as it is their wages why should they not get it i thought it was illegal not to pay workers for work done…Jimbo and LAURA would yea work for nothing THIS IS THERE WAGES IT IS NOT A BONUS

It’s not a bonus. Their salary is divided up into 13 months of payment rather than 12 months. This is done by a lot of companies so that you get your salary delivered when you need it more rather than at the end of each month. It’s not a big difference but this is the way they operate. So their 13th month payment isn’t a bonus, it’s a 13th of their annual salary that they never received.

agreeed jimbo :)

why is that brian??
do you work for a bank or are you a bondholder.
this is a paycut the rest of the country had to accept it so should they now get a life and play blind date elsewhere.

Ah…..so it’s a pay cut now? Step away from your blind hatred of all things bank related and see it for what it is. Cynical exploitation of the lowest paid workers in that sector who are people just like you and me!
And no I don’t work for a bank and definitely not a bondholder!

To ( even )

No, we wouldn’t have even heard about it because no injustice was done. Front end staff getting their full pay packet like everyone else is not news. Only when they are conned and shafted do I take notice and call for their support because tomorrow it could be you or me in that situation. I wouldn’t be quick to use the word bonus either.

it makes you laugh dont it…..

ya it does make me laugh je im happy just to see my wages n the bank on a friday morning never mind a bonus lol

Ordinary staff were screwed over. Management weren’t. Welcome to the new Ireland.

Laura, it’s been explained now a few times on here that this payment is not performance related, is not a bonus and is part of their salaries in that their annual salary is divided by 13 and they are paid 2/13 of their annual salary in december. What will it take to make you understand? You were asked also would you work 4 weeks for free which you did not answer? Why them and not you? Because they work for a state controlled bank? It’s not them that screwed us all over, they’re ordinary workers like the rest of us. It really upsets me and I think a lot of other people when you take into account all your red thumbs, when we don’t all show empathy with each other and stand behind each other in these horrible difficult times! I was going to put my last sentence in CAPS but I think it’s really childish and rude to shout when you want to make a point …. :p

i hit cap lock by mistake wasnt shouting anythng!!!!!!!ur the one been childish what will it take for u to understand that its a considered bonus by the goverment…oh and yes id wwork for free people do it for work experience the whole time :P

considered by the government does not make it right for the government to keep it from the staff this is their wages and no-one is expected to work for nothing

We wouldn’t be having this education lesson if AIB had informed the front line workers during the year about what they were planning to do, but they only told management who got to change their contracts so they got their 4 weeks pay amalgamated into their wage for the last few months and didn’t then receive it in a lump sum in December like the front line staff expected they would- because they only found out about this rule change days before their December wage payment.
Fuck AIB and the Govt calling it a bonus for it is not one. The 13 month wage system has been around a long time in many areas not just in the banking sector.
These folk got shafted and people spewing the same old “lucky to have a job” crap are only playing into the hands of what AIB and the DoF want you to think. Wise up, they have zero problem shafting ANY of us and divided opinions is not where we should be on this but united.

Exactly Damhsa. They were badly shafted by their union tho. Bloody disgrace. They should have looked after them and made sure they weren’t screwed. Useless!

Annual Salary (for example purposes only) – €30k a year:

€30k with payments at the end of each month, means a take home of €2500 before tax with no bonus.
€30k with payments every 4 weeks (52 weeks in a year, therefore 13 payments) means a take home of €2308 every month, with an extra in December, meaning in December you take home €4615.

You’re still getting paid the same amount €30k, but you get more in December which looks like a bonus and acts like a bonus, but is not a bonus. If their “13th month” isn’t paid, they’ll be taking 8% involuntary pay cut. Which isn’t a lot, but some of these people might not be earning a lot, but it’s still their salary and they’re entitled to it.

but why oh why did the management get the option to restructure their salaries and not the workers? this is what is bothering me. or did they? cen fath I said, cen fath?

Hey! I suggest you go off and read the whole story before you Start making big brash statements.

Jesus they’re out again, seriously, are you thick? It is their wages, their salary was divided up into 13 payments instead of 12, 25 grand is 25 geand no matter if it is paid weekly or bi monthly. Christ above! “Lucky to have jobs” Get over yourself.

Nah.. People just don’t like an incorrect analysis from a person with limited information.

No jimbo. I don’t work for EBS but I know that they’re annual wage is divided into 13 months and they get a double wage in December.This is an entitlement. Get the facts before it’s your wage that they cut while leaving management alone!

Management were allowed restructure it into their a 12 month wage. Staff had counted on this wage while budgeting for Christmas. Bit of unity please!

no Jimbo I don’t even have an account but I understand the thirteenth month wage pay

Sounds like you’re backtracking now jimbo!! Trying to change the subject and all that eh??

How nice it must be to have such a simple viewpoint for the state we are in, blah blah bankers blah blah blah bonus blah blah blah. Do you hear anything else at all? There are bondholders, bond vultures (some of who we paid today), management, foreign banks, ECB and IMF and then there are 290 or 300 workers who make anything from 24-30k pa being shafted, and this you find a problem with?
Lucky to have a job and all that hot air speech- would you prefer they contribute nothing and we all pay them the dole instead? At least they get up and go to work and deal with you and me behind the till and serve us daily and it’s these who you are chastising?