Pensioners Picket First Bank’s Offices over Poor Welfare Package
The National Union of Pensioners (NUP) First Bank chapter, recently locked up the bank’s branches in Ibadan and Kaduna, in protest against poor welfare package given to their members who served the bank.
The union, had before their latest action, picketed one of the bank’s branches in Kaduna for alleged refusal of management to improve on their members’ monthly retirement benefit and annual medical allowance.
The aggrieved pensioners said after several negotiations with management of the bank, it has failed to see the need to improve on the N15,000 monthly benefit it pays to their members and annual N30,000 medical allowance.
The National Chairman of the union, Alhaji Mohammed Bungudu said in a statement obtained by THISDAY that the picketing was done in all the main branches of the bank nationwide.
Bungudu said the N15,000 monthly pension allowance was unrealistic and not in tune with current economic realities.
Narrating series of discussions the union has had with the bank on the issue, Bungudu said: “We approached the bank in 2014 requesting improvement in welfare schemes and the bank asked us to wait and we waited until March 2015, again the bank said hold on.
“We went back in July and they asked us to itemise our demands,we did and nothing happened. We then waited up to October and when nothing happened we wrote to notify them that we will picket the bank if nothing is done about our request. On receiving the letter, the bank rushed to Federal Ministry of Labour, and the ministry invited both of us to resolve the issue.”
He added that the ministry directed the union to suspend its planned action and gave the bank up to January 31, 2016 to look into the pensioners grievances.
According to him,” on February 2, the bank invited us only to tell us that they cannot do anything about our request because of economic down turn.”
He said: “But we read in the papers a day before the meeting that, First Bank is one of the best 500 banks in the world and number one in Nigeria. How can a number one bank in the country and one of the best 500 banks in the world complain about economy? N15,000 is too small to cater for our needs in a month. We still have dependants to maintain and we are being given N15,000 for 30 days. That is an average of N500 per day for me and my wife. This is bad, and we said First Bank please give us more and they said, economy.
“N30, 000 cannot take care of our medical needs in 12 months.”
Bungudu the federal recalled that
government had in 2000, increased civil servants pension by 342 per cent and three years later it was increased by another 33 per cent.
“We brought the two circulars to the bank and they are still maintaining N15,000 per month.”
When contacted on the pensioners protest, the Business Manager of the Kaduna main branch, Mallam Ibrahim Mohammed said only the Headquarters of the bank would respond, “as they have all the facts.”