By Victor Ahiuma-Young

ORGANISED Labour  under the aegis of the National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions, NUBIFIE, and the management of Polaris Bank, are at each other’s throats at present over sack of workers and alleged violation of the workers’ rights.

In furtherance of its grievances, leaders of NUBIFIE Tuesday led aggrieved members of the union to picket the Victoria Island, Lagos headquarters of the bank.

However, the management of Polaris Bank insisted that it did not violate any law as far as the recent disengagement of some staff was concerned, saying  it said was done in line with the terms of the contract guiding their engagements.

Speaking through the Group Head, Brand Management & Corporate Communication, Nduneche Ezurike, the management of the bank informed that it had engaged and would continue to engage the union to resolve any lingering labour matters.

The Bank emphasized that “a cordial relationship has existed between her and the union over the years and believes that concerns raised by either party can be effectively addressed through dialogue. Polaris Bank remains committed to fostering a harmonious working relationship and ensuring the well-being of its employees.”

Meanwhile, NUBIFIE ’s General Secretary, Mohammed Sheikh, accused the bank’s management of sacking workers and members of the union without the due process required by the extant Labour law, saying: “We are here today to express our grievance against the new management of Polaris Bank. This grievance of ours borders on the violation of workers’ rights.

“The new management came on board barely six months ago and instead of settling down to look at how to move the bank forward, in their thinking, moving the bank forward, or growing it is by sacking workers.

“So the first agenda, the management decided, was to start laying off people; but it is not the laying off of people in itself that is the issue. The issue is the fact that it is carrying out those exercises in gross violation of the right of workers to a collectively bargained exit package.”