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The
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) continued its picketing of Union Bank
yesterday after a similar action on Monday paralysed activities for a
few hours at some of the bank’s branches across the country.

As at close of
normal banking hours, the doors to the head office in Lagos remained
shut, as petroleum tankers and union buses were used to barricade the
entrance, thereby preventing flow of traffic on the major Marina Road.

NLC national
president, Abdulwaheed Omar, in a statement, said the ongoing dispute
is an industrial relations problem with the Union Bank and not against
the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

“We, therefore,
think that the use of armed police and soldiers in this matter is
completely unjustified. The bragging of Mrs. Osibodu (Union Bank CEO)
that the soldiers have orders to shoot those who picket the bank at
sight should be investigated by the government. The mandate of the
Armed Forces does not include dabbling in purely industrial relations
matters,” Mr. Omar said.

He said the workers would resist any move to use force to disperse the protesters.

“The NLC,
therefore, warns that if by any act of commission or omission, a single
drop of a worker’s blood is split in the process of the planned
peaceful and legal picketing of the Union Bank, NLC will call out
workers and the Nigerian masses on an indefinite mass street protests
and general strike. We will also drag government and the management to
the United Nations and the International Criminal Court,” he added.

Mr. Omar said more severe actions will take place if nothing is done and no agreement is reached after February 21.

“The decision of
the Union Bank management and the honourable Minister of Labour, Emeka
Wogu, to pass judgement in an intra union dispute pending at the
industrial Arbitration Panel, (IAP) is illegal,” he further said.

Ade Martins-Odigie,
president, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial
Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) said the picketing would last till
Friday.

“If our demands are
not met by Friday, then we would hold an executive meeting at the NLC
and deliberate on when the NLC, as an umbrella body of labour unions,
would go on strike,” he said.

As at 3pm, the
picketing workers were still situated at the bank’s headquarters. “We
are still at the headquarters. I am sure that not less than 90 per cent
of Union Bank branches are closed and there are no banking activities
going on,” he said.

Francis Barde, the
bank’s spokesperson, who confirmed that the bank was closed, said the
management is hopeful that the issue will be resolved before the week
runs out. “You know, it is not an issue that can be resolved overnight.
It is a dialogue issue. We are hoping that an agreement would be
reached before the week runs out,” he said.

Since the crisis
began last year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which appointed the
current management of the bank in the wake of the sacking of the former
chief executive officer in 2009, has not made any official statement on
the matter.

Efforts to reach
the CBN spokesperson, Mohammed Abdullahi, on the position of the
regulator on the issue, was not successful as he would neither pick his
calls nor respond to text message.

The workers have
accused the bank’s management of mismanagement, undermining workers
solidarity, and indiscriminate staff layoff. The dispute reached its
climax last month when the management sacked 13 staff and withdrew the
recognition of the chapter of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks,
Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI).

As at the time of
going to press, the union officials and the management of the bank were
in a meeting with the minster of labour in Abuja.