Casualisation bane of employment in banking industry – ASSBIFI

UFOMBA UZUEGBU

Report of increasing cases of casualization have been of concern to trade unions in the nation’s private sector.

Industry watchers are appalled over government’s apparent inability or lack of political will to tackle the issue despite its unwholesome impact on job security in Nigeria.

Yet, nowhere is this more pronounced than the banking industry where employers are now opting for increased contract staffing as opposed to full employment, as a cost control  and risk aversion strategy.

The organised labour in banking and other financial institutions under the aegis of Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), described casualisation as a big challenge confronting the industry.

Worried that it has continued unabated in spite of the war against it, the President of ASSBIFI, Comrade Oyinkan Olasanoye blamed large numbers of unemployment in the country for the precarious job in the sector.

Olasanoye, who made this known while briefing Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN) last week, said winning war against casualisation is not yielding fruitful results as many job-seekers who are accepting such job are doing so out of frustration. Hence, they are only interested in the immediate job without concern about the condition of service.

As most of them are not adequately trained by their employers for the kind of job they are meant to do. And coupled  with information technology, they unconsciously divulge useful information to people who use such information against innocent bank customers.

Noting that the inexperience of such workers often make them instrument of frauds in the bank, she urged bank customers, indeed all Nigerians to be extra vigilance to avoid falling prey to scammers.

The ASSBIFI boss however claimed that the union is currently fighting a battle to create a level playing field for casual staff since employers of labour in the sector have been using rising unemployment as a licence for casualizationof bank staff.

Noting that casualization could be described as precarious job because such workers are subjected to lower wages  and being denied social benefits even as they are exposed to  more dangerous working condition, thus forcing some of them to compromise the ethics of their job.

In a related development, the ASSBIFI bobs expressed  sadness over death of 15 staff members to COVID 19,recalling that7,800 recovered from the pandemic.

According to her, most of the workers fell victims to the pandemic because of too much contact with mutilated notes.

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