Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) is seeking the intervention of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN) and Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) in the growing incidence of casualisation and contract staffing in the nation’s financial sector, especially banking.
This is as industry sources put the figure of casual, contract and outsourced staff in the banking sector at about 65 percent. The implication is that of the total workforce in the nation’s banking sector, only 35 percent are engaged as core staff. There are currently about 32 banks in Nigeria.
President of ASSBIFI, Oyinkan Olasanoye, described the statistics as not only frightening, but have grave implications for banking, especially given that this category of workers are denied basic rights and “treated shabbily”. Olasanoye spoke on the occasion 2019 World Day for Decent Work, Monday, in Lagos, saying this trend needed to be addressed in the interest of banking in Nigeria.
“As we have indicated in the past, despite awareness by most employees on ILO Conventions that deal with rights of workers, all manner of indecent treatments are still discernable in our various workplaces. While more demands are placed on workers, they simultaneously continue to face threats to decent pay, conditions of work, safety and outright job loss,” she said.
She argued that the intervention of CBN, CIBN, NECA was required, not just to tackle casual/contractor staffing in sector, but also address the issue of industry bargaining agreement which hasn’t been renewed since expiration in 2007, and already causing tension in the banking sector.
Olasanoye, at the event with theme “threats to job security and work-life balance in digitalised work environment –legal perspective, however, acknowledged the role of technology in the delivery of timely banking services.
“Advances in technology are allowing us to work in new ways that weren’t possible in the past without such constraints as location. It has changed where we work, how we work, time of work and who we work with,” she said.
Quadri Olaleye, president of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), in a keynote address delivered at the event, stressed the need to respect workers rights and gender equality in work places.
“It is imperative we start thinking along this line if we want to have a place in the world of work,” just as he harped on work-life balance.
“Work-Life Balance is critical as it gives employees a feeling of a greater sense of control and ownership over their own lives. The workers tend to have better relationships with management and are able to leave work issues at work and home issues at home.”
Olaleye also acknowledged the place of technology in work environment and the need for workers to embrace the new trend.
“The truth is that cars will soon be autonomous; factories and warehouses are already being run without human supervision, machines now plaster houses, count money, do correspondences and wash the dishes, clean the houses. We do not need a prophet to tell us the implication of this development. Everyone wants job security; unfortunately jobs are under constant threat from a variety of sources,” he said.
JOSHUA BASSEY
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