Polaris Bank: Sacked Workers Fate Hangs

The National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) has said the meeting held between it and Polaris Bank management over the sack of its members ended inconclusively.

Over 40 workers of the commercial bank were recently sacked by the management, among other contentious labour-related issues the bank is having with its employees.

The sack led to the picketing of the bank head office by NUBIFIE alongside members of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC on June 6, after which the management invited the Union to a meeting to resolve the issues.

But speaking on the outcome of the meeting,  Mohammed Sheik, Secretary-General, NUBIFIE, told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, on Wednesday that the meeting achieved nothing.

According to Sheikh, “We just finished the meeting, but unfortunately, the meeting could not conclude because of the fact that the demands we put across to them, the management said it may not be able to carry out the demands.

“The demand that went across was for us to have a level playing ground for negotiation.

“They are to first and foremost withdraw those sack letters and recall those workers; then we can now sit down and discuss on behalf of the workers.

“So, they declined and said we should go ahead and discuss what the sacked workers are entitled to.

“However, we told them that our principal gave us the mandate, that firstly, in order to commence discussion, they have to rectify the wrong that they committed.

“So, it is on the grounds that we left; so, there was nothing tangible that came out of the meeting.”

The labour leader said the union would hold a Congress to discuss and would arrive at what the next line of action would be.