The National Chairman of FBN Unit, Gimbason John, said this in a statement in Ibadan, citing the Bank’s alleged failure to review pension payments upward every five years, as mandated by a 2016 court ruling.
He alleged that after 30-35 years of service, the lender’s pensioners receive pensions ranging from N4,500 to N8,000 and N15,000 monthly.
John also called for the enhancement of meagre monthly pensions, compliance with court orders and pension reforms, as well as respect for the rights of former employees.
He said: “FBN pensioners have endured years of frustration seeking fair pension payments. Having spent our youthful years and worked meritoriously to take the bank to its enviable position, we demand justice and fair treatment.”
He said the pensioners had been enduring years of frustration in securing fair pension payments.
John said that the struggle for fair pension practices at First Bank dated back to 2008 when the union began collective bargaining efforts.
Despite winning a case at the Investment and Security Tribunal in 2010, he claimed First Bank failed to comply with the ruling.
The union president also alleged that the poor pension payments had resulted in untimely deaths of retirees, many of whom could not afford adequate healthcare.
“The death of a pensioner is the death of his or her pension payment,” he said.
He noted that the union had given First Bank two weeks to engage in negotiations and increase pension payments to N150,000 per month.
According to John, should the bank fail to meet this demand, the union has vowed to mobilise over 5,000 pensioners for protests at First Bank branches across Nigeria, including the bank’s head office in Marina, Lagos.
In addition to improved pension payments, the union demanded a yearly medical allowance increase from N30,000 to N300,000 or free medical care for all pensioners.
He also called for an investigation into the alleged disappearance of pension funds, rumoured to be worth over N300 billion and asked that pensioners be represented on the bank’s board.
John appealed to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the bank’s board chairman, and the public to intervene, urging that they wanted First Bank to comply with court orders and treat its former employees with the respect they deserved.
