Five years after the consolidation carried out in the banking industry by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), 335 former employees of Legacy Co-operative Bank, one of the institutions that merged with Skye Bank Plc, have sued the management of the bank.
All the claimants for Skye Bank were said to be unionised members of the National Union of Banks Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees (NUBIFIE) and the Association of Senior Staff of Insurance Banks and Financial Institutions Employees (ASSIBIFIE), the trade unions statutorily recognised to negotiate on behalf of the junior and senior workers respectively in the banking industry.
They also alleged that the claimants, upon being disengaged from the service of Co-operative Bank due to the merger with the defendant (Skye Bank Plc) became entitled to certain benefits as contained in the collective agreement which is a part of the conditions of service of the claimants.
The claimants stated further that prior to their disengagement, there had been apprehension amongst the then members of staff of the Co-operative Bank about the security of their jobs in the proposed merger, further to which the management of the Co-operative Bank by a letter dated 23rd January, 2006, allayed their fears.
The former bankers further disclosed that contrary to the position stated in the letter, under reference, the defendant instead of paying redundancy benefits, paid six months basic salary as ex-gratia to the disengaged staff thus robbing them of more than 80 per cent of the entitlements.
They also claimed that their union had negotiated with the union representing the Legacy Co-operative bank on the entitlements due to them and payable by the defendant’s predecessor long before their disengagement from service.

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