Joe Higgins call for Halifax to be taken into Public Ownership

Responding to the news of Bank of Scotland (Ireland)’s decision to close its Halifax outlets with the resulting loss of 750 jobs Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins commented.

Responding to the news of Bank of Scotland (Ireland)’s decision to close its Halifax outlets with the resulting loss of 750 jobs Socialist Party MEP Joe Higgins commented.

“There are further indications today that this announcement will be followed by an even greater slashing of jobs by AIB and Bank of Ireland as low and middle income bank workers in the main are being made to pay for the mistakes of Senior Management.

“Bank of Scotland, who were among the beneficiaries of a UK government £17 billion bail out, say they are closing these branches because they cannot see themselves achieving a profit in ‘a realistic timeframe’ and that they have no strategy for the bank’s future.

“This admission taken together with the absence of any evidence that the banks will lend to working people and small businesses makes a fresh case for the banks to be taken into public ownership and run democratically with boards made up of the workers, the government and customers. This in the only means by which jobs can be protected and lending policy be controlled by anything other than the discredited existing bank boards of management.

“I will support every effort made by the Halifax workers and UNITE to defend their jobs which given the scale of compulsory redundancies the company want means strike action.”

 

Total
0
Shares
Previous Article

Joe Higgins MEP welcomes European Parliament's rejection of SWIFT agreement

Next Article

Vancouver Winter Olympics...debts and environmental damage

Related Posts
Read More

Reject ICTU’s Sell Out Deal

A press release from Joe Higgins, Socialist Party MEP responding to the cancellation of tomorrow's day of industrial action by the ICTU leadership and their promotion of a deal with the government based on enforcing unpaid leave on public sector workers.

Rank and file trade unionists must reject this sell out deal and organise to replace the weak union leadership with one who will seriously fight government policy.

Read More

No support for the implementation of Croke Park

The passing of the Croke Park Agreement represents an important setback for public sector workers and the working class as a whole. If this deal is implemented unhindered then 20,000 public sector jobs will be lost, working conditions will be decimated and the quality of public services from health to education etc will be driven further into the ground.