The ongoing strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has brought attention to the delicate balance between workers’ rights to protest and the need for essential services to continue functioning. Despite the NLC’s call for a nationwide strike, banks across the country have maintained their operations, while managers have advised their employees on how to navigate the situation.<\/p>\n
Nigerian banks and other financial institutions continued their operations today (Tuesday, September 5, 2023) despite indications that they might participate in the NLC warning strike against the hardships resulting from the removal of petrol subsidies. As previously reported, the National Union of Banks, Insurance, and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) had announced that all bank branches would be closed on Tuesday and Wednesday.<\/p>\n
One notable aspect of the ongoing strike is the commitment of Nigerian banks to continue their operations. Despite the strike, most banks have kept their doors open to ensure that customers can access their accounts, conduct transactions, and receive services without major disruptions.<\/p>\n
Most branches on Tuesday morning showed no signs of a strike as employees were visibly present at their workstations. In an interview with LegitNG<\/em>, a teller at a First Bank branch on Airport Road explained that she couldn’t risk her job without formal communication to stay at home. She mentioned, “My line manager sent us a message to disregard the warning strike and resume work, stating that it was our responsibility to serve our customers. You don’t expect me to stay at home.”<\/p>\n A similar situation was observed at Guaranty Trust Bank, Access Bank, Zenith, EcoBank, and United Bank of Africa branches that were visited. An Ecobank manager, who identified himself as Chuks, emphasized that no bank would simply shut down. The branches would remain open from 8 am to 4 pm. He stated, “Of course, we will attend to our customers while awaiting further directives from the headquarters. It is not easy to close down as we owe responsibilities to our customers.”<\/p>\n Regarding NUBIFIE’s plans to close branches, Uju Ogubunka, the President of the Bank Customer Association of Nigeria (BCAN), noted that such a move would need to be justified. He emphasized that customers have the right to access their money, but if a planned strike is intended for the greater good of the public, it will be considered. He said, “We are all in this together. If the planned strike is well-intended towards improving the conditions of Nigerians, then it can be allowed, but customers’ rights must be protected.”<\/p>\n The NLC, representing millions of Nigerian workers, declared the strike as a response to various issues, including the demand for an increase in the minimum wage, better working conditions, and the reversal of the recent increase in electricity tariffs and fuel prices. The strike was intended to exert pressure on the government to address these concerns.<\/p>\n In another report, it was revealed that Nigerian banks are set to receive good news soon as the federal government has decided to wind down AMCON. AMCON was introduced in 2010 to help recover bad loans in the banking system. To achieve this, AMCON deducts 0.5% of every bank’s total assets, including off-balance sheet assets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The ongoing strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has brought attention to the delicate balance between workers’ rights to protest and the need for essential services to continue functioning. Despite the NLC’s call for a nationwide strike, banks across the country have maintained their operations, while managers have advised their employees on how […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":1554,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[172],"tags":[59],"class_list":["post-1553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1553"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1557,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1553\/revisions\/1557"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}