With the intervention of Daju Kachollom, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Employment, the initial industrial dispute between the Management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), the domestic unit of the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), and the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees (NUIBFIE) has been successfully resolved.
It is worth noting that the Permanent Secretary took action by addressing the dispute in accordance with section 18 of the Trade Disputes Act. In a letter dated Thursday, June 22, 2023, the parties involved were called upon to attend a conciliation meeting scheduled for Tuesday, June 27, 2023.
Despite NUIBFIE’s compliance with the directive, the ASSBIFI unit of the Fund showed blatant disregard by initiating an industrial action on Monday, June 26, 2023. They engaged in picketing and obstructed access to the head office.
During the conciliation meeting conducted at the Conference Room of the Minister of Labour, the Permanent Secretary expressed her dissatisfaction with the unfavorable labor activities carried out by ASSBIFI.
She clarified that the absence of a Minister did not indicate a breakdown in institutional hierarchy and order. She also emphasised that such circumstances did not justify disobedience to lawful directives.
Additionally, the Permanent Secretary voiced her strong reservations regarding ASSBIFI’s decision to seek external assistance without first exploring the internal conciliation mechanism within the Ministry. She viewed this action as inappropriate, especially considering that the dispute pertained to human resources matters. She went on to describe it as ‘mischief’ in nature.
It is important to mention that the union, in disregard of the authority held by the Permanent Secretary, took it upon themselves to directly contact the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation, seeking intervention.
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According to a source present at the meeting, Kachollom was quoted as saying, ‘bad enough, not one person came to me to report these matters, or remind me and seek for resolution. All we started seeing were accounts in the social media that bring the agency and the Ministry to disrepute.’
‘I summoned this meeting for a conversation that will be beneficial to all of us, taking all the issues one by one. I am open and will be fair to all. Your MD and ED Administration told me you have been meeting, in fact, met last Friday because I had to call them back from retreat to meet with you, because I said my house cannot be on fire, having also been briefed by my Director of Trade Union Services.’
‘But you now bypassed all to go to the office of the Head of Service. And everything is on social media and everybody is asking what is going on in the NSITF again.’
‘Again why NSITF? It is not good for us. You might think you are trying to achieve whatever you set out for, but to be honest, it would have been best if we had sat down and had this conversation before going public with your agitations. Not doing it smacks of mischief.’
‘You didn’t come to me but I called for this conversation because that is what we need to do. You have a wife, you have children, they quarrel and you make peace as a family. You don’t take it to your neighbours.’
‘Even though your MD said these issues have been addressed, it is obvious that some of them have not been addressed. Which ones have not been addressed?’
‘As I told her, there are issues that are immediate, there are those that are for the medium term and there are those for the long term. Meet your staff because we all have to come to an agreement on how to resolve them all. The management and staff must agree on them.’
‘We must resolve whatever they are because to be frank, I’m not going to sit here and read you are on the streets of Abuja again, not when I’m Permanent Secretary. Not having a Minister in place for now does not mean dispute resolution has ceased. It is not Federal Ministry of Labour, please.’
‘When you are found on the streets, it is the Federal Ministry of Labour that people know because we are one. It is Federal Ministry of labour. It is not NSITF. Whether it is NDE, IAP or other of our parastatals, it is Federal Ministry of labour. We must all conduct ourselves properly.’
‘The management should not allow a breakdown of communication. You must communicate with the unions, engage them. But union members must also be aware that they are first and foremost members of staff and must shun every acts of indiscipline. There should be no space for indiscipline of any sort.’
An insider familiar with the meeting disclosed that the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) faced obstacles due to a disagreement concerning item four of the union’s demands.
The MoU was intended to be signed by Com. Olusoji Oluwole, the National President of ASSBIFI, Com. Aboderin P.O, and D.G.S Nnabuife on behalf of NUIBIFI, as well as Barrister Maureen Allagoa, the Managing Director of the NSITF, and Prof. Gabriel Okenwa, the Executive Director Admin representing the NSITF.
The disagreement centered around the fusion of Deputy Manager and Manager levels to establish a nine-tier grade level, similar to what is practiced in public service.