NUBIFIE Pickets Heritage Over Illegal Staff Layoff

The National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIEIE) has said it will continue to picket Heritage Bank over its failure to abide by the law in laying off staff.

The bank, LEADERSHIP gathered, has sent letters of disengagement to seven of its outsourcing companies thereby automatically laying off hundreds of its staff members without any benefit .

The leadership and members of NUBIFIE had on Thursday barricaded the entrance of the head office of Heritage Bank on Ahmadu Bello Way in Lagos to express their grievance and compel the bank to have a sit down with the affected staff.

Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the president of NUBIFIE, Comrade Anthony Abakpa said whilst the management of the bank has called for a meeting with the union for Friday, the union remains sceptical of the intentions of the bank.

According to him, Heritage Bank had during a previous discussion, went to the industrial court to get an injunction against the union. The demand of the union, he said, is that the bank withdraw the case it had filed at the court and discuss to reach an agreement with the affected staff.

Findings show that the bank is laying off hundreds of staff many of which have been with the bank for up to 15 years and plans to pay them N90,000 across board irrespective of their position.

On his part, the general secretary of the union, Comrade Sheikh Mohammed said ‘We have information which we have verified that the management of Heritage Bank intends to sever its relationship with about seven of outsourcing firms that are sourcing members of staff to them.

“Now, if you sever your relationship with the outsource company, what that means is that technically you have already severed the relationship with those workers that they outsource to the bank.

“The workers provided by the seven  outsource companies that they want to have a severe relationship with are our members. We don’t have a problem, if you want to sever your relationship with an outsource company, but the people that they are outsourcing to are workers. So, you cannot just tell them, some of whom have spent 15 to 17 years in service of the bank, to just go like that.

“You must sit down with their representative and discuss if you don’t want to retain them. Discuss with their representative on compensation or terminal benefits.