By Victor Ahuma-Young

Labour at a recent protest over unfair practices.
EVER heard the phrase, “Protection Fees”? It is a new lexicon some fraudulent union leaders and management are introducing into Nigerian industrial relations practice.
SOME call it stealing in the name of union, while others say it is a fraudulent and inhuman act that must be exposed.
Protection fees, Labour Vanguard’s investigation discovered is a fee paid by a management of a company to union leaders every month to keep unionism out of the company. In order word, it is a fee paid to union leaders for the union leaders to look the other side, while an employer perpetuates all forms of unfair labour practices.
Labour Vanguard’s findings revealed that the practice is rampant in the financial and hospitality sectors.
The practice is for the fraudulent union leaders and anti-union management to agree on a certain amount of money to be paid directly to the union leaders in order to keep union out of the company.
Labour Vanguard’s investigation uncovered that this arrangement is very prevalence in the new generation banks and hostel business.
Workers in these banks and hotels are subjected and exposed to all forms of abuses, denials, discriminations and so on.
For the hospitality industry, investigation revealed that the issue of payment of protection fees is very common in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, where there are many hotels, but only few are unionised.
According to a staff of one of the nation’s leading new generation banks where Labour Vanguard discovered pays protection fees, the workers especially the junior staff are treated like slaves.
The staff who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that “though the management deceives outsiders that there is a union in our bank, but inside, everybody knows there is no union. We hear, the management settles some union leaders every month. Our case is very pathetic. We have tried all we could to help ourselves to no avail. We are in a slave camp. The management is draconian, devilish, demonic and in-human to junior staff of the bank (name withheld). This is a bank that fronts itself as a good bank with many charity works done all over the nation. But these charity works are done at the expense of staff. Not long ago, a kangaroo company (name withheld, but in this report, to be known as ‘PP’) was founded by a group of the bank’s top management staff. One of the founders is now the bank’s Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer. All junior staff were forced to sign off their years of service with the bank. Those who refused to sign had their salary (for the month of June 2010) withheld. Some were punished by their department heads.”
“ There was a case where the Deputy General Manager, DGM, of retail banking unit (named withheld) demoted a staff for refusing to sign the document. Although the staff eventually signed, it took some months and high profile appeals before the said staff was restored to the former position. There was nobody to complain to because even those who served for 10-15yrs and voluntarily retired, still have their cases pending in courts. They have been refused retirement benefits. According to the Consultant of PP who also doubles as a Senior Manager in bank, ‘management will rather spend money in court than pay off staff for whatever reason.’ PP is about Five years old. Those of us who have served the bank for years before the birth of PP, who have contributed to building the bank from eleven branches to over three hundred and twenty branches, who joined the bank to make her first one billion naira and now the bank is making trillions, who worked Saturdays and Sundays, risked our lives in bullion movements, brought in customers for the bank and served the bank with our youthful days were forced to sign off those inputs for this company. After these sufferings, we are not allowed to retire with our benefits. Where is it in the nation’s labour law that is written that one cannot retire after 10 years and above with full benefits?”
“For over the past six years, there has been no promotion. As I am writing this, after 15 years of service a lot of us are still at the entrance level where anybody employed today will be earning the same with us even after some of us have obtained our first degree. This bank requires Junior staff to obtain Institute of Chattered Accountant of Nigeria, ICAN, before they are promoted to Professional entrance level. The question is, how many of the management staff are chartered accountants? Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN and any other professional qualification is not acceptable by this bank. The management has made Junior staff not to have a future in this bank.”
“Bellow are some of the unfair practices junior staff of the bank are exposed to; They are promoted once in every four years; they are not promoted after university degree/s; they are not allowed to join union; the representative of the fake union which they use to deceive outsiders, is a senior manager in the legal department of the bank. It is fake because the management appointed him to deceive outsiders. We do not pay union dues, but we hear that every month, some union leaders come to collect money from the management. Junior staff are not allowed to resign after many years of service. If you write a resignation letter it will be rejected, but before long such a person is sacked or dismissed. We are seriously calling of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to come to our aid.”
Commenting on the issue of payment ofProtection fees by some banks to keep union off, General Secretary of the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions Employees, NUBIFIE, Comrade Segun Ola, acknowledged that the issued had been on for a long time, but insisted that NUBIFIE had nothing to do with it.
According to him: ‘ The rumour of management payment of protection fees to avoid unionism has been on for a very long time. I cannot say it is true or not. But as far as we are concerned, in all the banks that we are we in (unionised), we have full presence.”
However, officials of NLC said, Congress had been flooded with complaints and petitions of unfair labour practices and uncomplimentary attitudes of some affiliates to issue on organising and unionizing.
Head of Administration/Acting Head of Industrial Relations, Comrade Emma Ugbaja, told Labour Vanguard that the new leadership of NLC planned to fight the issue of unfair labour practices such as casualisation, contract staffing, out sourcing, unionisation among others immediately after the general elections.

source : http://www.vanguardngr.com/2011/03/protection-fees-stealing-in-the-name-of-union/

Pls who or what is PEOPLESPLUS?just got an invitation for an interview,,pls help me out.


It is a new lexicon some fraudulent union leaders and management are introducing into Nigerian industrial relations practice.
SOME call it stealing in the name of union, while others say it is a fraudulent and inhuman act that must be exposed.
Protection fees, Labour Vanguard’s investigation discovered is a fee paid by a management of a company to union leaders every month to keep unionism out of the company. In order word, it is a fee paid to union leaders for the union leaders to look the other side, while an employer perpetuates all forms of unfair labour practices.
Labour Vanguard’s findings revealed that the practice is rampant in the financial and hospitality sectors.
The practice is for the fraudulent union leaders and anti-union management to agree on a certain amount of money to be paid directly to the union leaders in order to keep union out of the company.
Labour Vanguard’s investigation uncovered that this arrangement is very prevalence in the new generation banks and hostel business.
Workers in these banks and hotels are subjected and exposed to all forms of abuses, denials, discriminations and so on.
For the hospitality industry, investigation revealed that the issue of payment of protection fees is very common in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, where there are many hotels, but only few are unionised.
According to a staff of one of the nation’s leading new generation banks where Labour Vanguard discovered pays protection fees, the workers especially the junior staff are treated like slaves.
The staff who spoke on condition of anonymity, lamented that “though the management deceives outsiders that there is a union in our bank, but inside, everybody knows there is no union. We hear, the management settles some union leaders every month. Our case is very pathetic. We have tried all we could to help ourselves to no avail. We are in a slave camp. The management is draconian, devilish, demonic and in-human to junior staff of the bank (name withheld). This is a bank that fronts itself as a good bank with many charity works done all over the nation. But these charity works are done at the expense of staff. Not long ago, a kangaroo company (name withheld, but in this report, to be known as ‘PP’) was founded by a group of the bank’s top management staff. One of the founders is now the bank’s Managing Director/ Chief Executive Officer. All junior staff were forced to sign off their years of service with the bank. Those who refused to sign had their salary (for the month of June 2010) withheld. Some were punished by their department heads.”
“ There was a case where the Deputy General Manager, DGM, of retail banking unit (named withheld) demoted a staff for refusing to sign the document. Although the staff eventually signed, it took some months and high profile appeals before the said staff was restored to the former position. There was nobody to complain to because even those who served for 10-15yrs and voluntarily retired, still have their cases pending in courts. They have been refused retirement benefits. According to the Consultant of PP who also doubles as a Senior Manager in bank, ‘management will rather spend money in court than pay off staff for whatever reason.’ PP is about Five years old. Those of us who have served the bank for years before the birth of PP, who have contributed to building the bank from eleven branches to over three hundred and twenty branches, who joined the bank to make her first one billion naira and now the bank is making trillions, who worked Saturdays and Sundays, risked our lives in bullion movements, brought in customers for the bank and served the bank with our youthful days were forced to sign off those inputs for this company. After these sufferings, we are not allowed to retire with our benefits. Where is it in the nation’s labour law that is written that one cannot retire after 10 years and above with full benefits?”
“For over the past six years, there has been no promotion. As I am writing this, after 15 years of service a lot of us are still at the entrance level where anybody employed today will be earning the same with us even after some of us have obtained our first degree. This bank requires Junior staff to obtain Institute of Chattered Accountant of Nigeria, ICAN, before they are promoted to Professional entrance level. The question is, how many of the management staff are chartered accountants? Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN and any other professional qualification is not acceptable by this bank. The management has made Junior staff not to have a future in this bank.”
“Bellow are some of the unfair practices junior staff of the bank are exposed to; They are promoted once in every four years; they are not promoted after university degree/s; they are not allowed to join union; the repres

Zenith is a bank whose primary moving spirit is greed. The bank management is the meanest in the banking industry. Wickedness reigns supreme in the bank and it places no premium on any of its staff. The peopleplus guys have suffered tons of injustice. I wish someone will come to their aid and punish the bank severely for its numerous unfair labour practices.