Seven deposit money
banks may be facing a fresh hurdle in the early months of 2017, as organised
labour is engaging in clandestine talks within its ranks for a showdown
with
the affected banks in the New Year.
Leading in the
planned onslaught against the banks, as revealed by investigations, are
National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions (NUBIFIE) backed
by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and National Union of
Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), under the aegis of United Labour
Congress.
The planned
picketing of the banks, according to a source, is fallout of the inability of
the management of the affected banks and NUBIFIE to resolve lingering issues
around “sack of workers without recourse to industry collective bargaining
agreement, refusal of unionisation, among other anti-labour practices.”
It would be recalled
that some commercial banks hit by the sudden withdrawal of billions of Federal
Government’s funds in their operations in the wake of the implementation of the
Treasury Single Account (TSA) policy, and the uncertainty that surrounds the
economy, resorted to massive staff rationalisation, leading to over 1,000 bank
workers losing their jobs in 2016. Labour had reacted swiftly by announcing
plans to picket the banks.
Although an
intervention by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, leading to a
meeting in Abuja, involving the Ayuba Wabba-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC),
Trade Union Congress (TUC), representatives of the banks and Nigeria Employers’
Consultative Association (NECA), averted the disruption of the banks’
operations, But NUBIFIE, backed by the then NLC faction led by Joe Ajaero,
insisted on the picketing on the grounds that it was not part of the Abuja
meeting and that the parties in attendance could not speak for the bank workers
who were its members.
Sunday Salako,
former president of Association of Senior Staff of Banks Insurance and
Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), had faulted the decision of the Federal
Government to pull the funds from banks in one swoop, saying it amounted to
“stripping the economy of energy” when banks were denied funds to advance loans
to businesses.
The renewed plan to
mobilise against the banks early next year, it was learnt, would be jointly
prosecuted by some 16 labour unions affiliated to United Labour Congress (ULC),
the new labour centre formed three weeks ago, and led by Joe Ajaero, as
president, and Achese Igwe, as deputy president. The two unionists double as
general secretary of NUEE and president of National Union of Petroleum and
NUPENG, respectively.
“Nigerian banks do
not see the need to respect the country’s extant labour laws. In the New Year,
we would be taking on seven of them, one old generation and six new generation
banks. They must not be allowed to play above the law.
“While we agree the
employer can hire and fire, there are laws guiding this. You do not wake up and
sack massively without subjecting yourself to the industry collective
bargaining agreement without the union. This is what obtains in different
sectors of the economy, and it is backed by our labour laws,” according to the
source.
The source said
before launching the onslaught in the early months of next year, “we would
officially intimate the employers’ body,” adding that “the issue of
unionisation in the banks would be put on front burner in the coming year.”
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