Alleged mass sack: Labour pickets Polaris bank
Organized labour under the aegis of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (NUBIFIE), yesterday,(Tuesday), picketed the Victoria Island head office of Polaris bank over the alleged mass sack of workers, mostly contract staff, and unfair labour practices
Members of the union stormed the bank premises in the early hours of yesterday, chanting solidarity songs, denouncing management’s alleged high-handedness and total disregard of labour laws.
Addressing newsmen at the rally, the General Secretary of NUBIFIE, Comrade Sheik Mohammed said the management of the bank carried out the mass sack of more than 40 workers, mostly outsourced staff,in total disregard of labour laws and Collective Bargaining, which is the right of workers in a unionized work environment.
“We insist that those sacked should be recalled and the union invited to discuss their redundancy package in compliance with the law.Workers who spent the better part of their lives in the institution have beeb sacked by someone who was appointed as Managing director a few months ago, giving them a miserly one month salary in lieu of notice”,he said
Some of the placards carried by the protesting workers read;”Respect Collective Bargaining,Rights of Workers”, “Banking is not slavery”,”Stop dehumanizing workers”, Outsourcing must wear human face”, “Workers deserve better treatment”, Monkey dey work”.One of the sacked workers,Gift Onyike told newsmen that he had put in 20 years in the service of the bank and was sacked on June 1,2023, without any disengagement allowance,stating that he was yet to be paid N68000,which is his one month salary in lieu of notice.
Another affected worker in the mass sack,Olusomu Eyikogbe,said he worked for 8 years in the bank and collected his sack letter on June 1, 2023.He is yet to recieve N68000,being his one month salary in lieu of notice.
Efforts to get management reaction to the issue proved abortive at press time. But a management staff, who spoke on anonymity,said the leadership of the union had been invited to a round-table talk tomorrow,(Wednesday)by management to address the issues holistically,promising that at the end of the meeting,management will make its reaction known.
A copy of the letter, signed by Olarenwaju Oyekunle on behalf of the bank and forwarded to the NUBIFIE General Secretary stated inter alia; “Given the cordial relationship that had existed between the bank and the union over years, we are of the opinion that any concern from either party can be resolved through round table.
“In view of the above, we request for a meeting between the management team of the bank and a delegation of NUBIFIE today(Wednesday), June 7, 2023 by 10 am,to discuss outstaanding issues with the view of having a resolution while requesting you recall your members from our business locations”.Champion
