Casualisation a major challenge confronting our union, says ASSBIFI 

The Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) has lamented that casualisation is a major challenge confronting the union.

President of ASSBIFI, Oyinkan Olasanoye, said over 80 per cent of workers in the financial sector operate as casuals.

Olasanoye, who spoke at a forum organised by Labour Writers Association of Nigeria (LAWAN), said despite moves by the union to fight against casualisation, it had continue unabated.

The ASSBIFI boss, who also described the precarious work condition in the sector as pathetic, blamed the high unemployment rate in the country as a reason for the increased number of contract workers in the sector.

She said the workers are subjected to lower wages, being denied social benefits and exposed to more dangerous working conditions, and hence, could easily compromise on ethics of the job.

Specifically, she said the Labour Act made provision that there should be contract staff but the workers should have dignity of labour and adequately compensated

She disclosed that most of the fraud carried out in the financial sector is operated by contract employees, which happened as a result of frustration for not being adequately compensated.

She said: “It is easy for them to be used as trojan horse. Some of the fraudulent activities taking place in the sector today is easier because some of them are not professionals. They have reasons to be bitter because they are not well trained. With information technology, they unconsciously divulge useful information to people, who use such information against innocent bank customers.”

She said the association had come up with a policy that was labour-friendly, whereby casual workers would not be easily used and dumped, adding that with the policy, workers could not be easily disengaged.

“We have a collective agreement that is renewable every two years, the last one was 2015, but because of individuals institutional policies that ran fowl of our collective agreement, it has been very tough for us to renew the agreement,” she lamented.