Federal
Government has threatened to withdraw the operating license of any bank
or telecommunication company that breached its directive to stop mass
sack of workers.
Chris Ngige speaking
Speaking on Tuesday at the 105th session of the International
Labour Congress (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland, Chris Ngige, the minister
of Labour and Employment, has warned that the federal government will
sanction banks and telecommunication companies, which fail to comply
with its order to suspend massive sack of their employees.
“The federal government gave the licences to the banks to
operate and if its directives are not adhered to the licences will be
withdrawn if the need arises.
“We will go a step further if they continue. We know what to
do. They need to comply. They need to come to the negotiation table. We
halted the spate of sack in the oil industry and we succeeded.
“Even if you are going to lay off, there is a way to declare
redundancy, there is a process. Section 20 of the labour act says it.
You must call the unions and discuss with them. You don’t just treat
them as slaves in their own country and you want us to keep quiet.
“We want them to maintain the status quo. As far as I am the
minister of labour, I will protect the interest of workers; same to the
telecommunication companies, they are also talking about compiling lists
without discussing with anybody,” Ngige said.
The minister's statement comes after Skye Bank laid off 175 staff.
The bank took the action on Monday, which happened to be the next
working day after the directive by the minister to banks to suspend
their employees' sack.
The current economic situation in the country has led to massive job loss as Eco Bank also sacked over 1,000 staff last week.
