NLC Cautions First Bank against Alleged Plan to Sack 1,000 Workers

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Monday written to the First Bank Plc, expressing concern over alleged moves to carry out mass retrenchment at the end of November 2019.

The labour movement demanded immediate suspension of the plans to retrench over 1,000 workers in the employment of the bank.

It also called for genuine engagement on the issue with its affiliate union, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE).

NLC said it is disheartening that the mass retrenchment billed for the end of November 2019 is targeted at workers whose ages range between 35 and 55 years, and who have put in an average of five years in the services of the bank.

In a statement issued by the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, the labour movement urged the bank to ensure that any such exercise is done in line with the provisions of the Labour Act guiding redundancy exercise.

NLC said information available to it indicated that First Bank of Nigeria plans to retrench over 1,000 of its staff without adequate and commensurate severance benefits.

It noted that the exercise is in severe breach of the extant provisions in Nigerian labour laws.

The statement read: "It has been brought to our attention by one of our affiliate unions, the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions

Employees (NUBIFIE),  that First Bank of Nigeria PLC plans to embark on a mass retrenchment of over 1,000 members of its staff.

"We write to draw your attention to the fact that any such exercise must be done in line with the provisions of the Labour Act guiding redundancy exercise."

The Congress also said it learnt that the workers being penciled for retrenchment by the bank are categorised as "outsourced workers."

"Dear MD, apart from the non-recognition of ‘outsourced’ labour by Nigerian labour laws, it is extremely tortious to imagine that First Bank with an enabling banking licence could boldly assert that its workers are the responsibility of an entity not licenced to operate as a bank.

"As a matter of fact, what our laws recognise and what is extensively provided in Section 7 and 11 of Nigeria's Labour Act is that employers are required within three months of engagement of an employee to give the employee a written contract of employment which must specify among other things a description of the parties to the contract of employment; the nature of the services (s) to be rendered; the tenure of the contract; remunerations which must be paid; hours of work; the period of notice to be served before the contract can be terminated and possible grounds for the termination of an employee's contract," it said.

NLC further said: “Information available to us indicates that First Bank of Nigeria Plc, by its plan to retrench over 1,000 of its staff and without adequate and commensurate severance benefits, is in severe breach of the extant provisions in our labour laws.

"We also understand that the management of First Bank of Nigeria Plc has refused to enter into dialogue with NUBIFIE which is the workers representative trade union organisation.

"This is also in contravention to Section 20 of Nigeria's Labour Act and Convention 98 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) on the right to Organising and Collective Bargaining which Nigeria had long ratified.”

It stated: "Finally, we wish to remind the management of First Bank of Nigeria Plc. that workers are not commodities to be used and tossed aside at will. In addition to declaring humungous profits to its shareholders annually, First Bank has a higher moral responsibility to the welfare of its workers as they are the ones who create the profit and wealth that the shareholders enjoy. We believe that it must be people before profit."