FG - Threatens Banks that Violated the ‘no sack’ order

The federal government has threatened to penalize banks and telecommunication companies, which fail to comply with its order to
suspend retrenchment.
Minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige gave the warning on
Tuesday at the 105th session of the International Labour Congress
(ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ngige was stunned that the directive was disregarded by the financial institutions and telecommunication companies.
“The federal government gave the licences to the banks to operate
and if its directives are not adhered to the licences will be withdrawn
if the need arises,” he said.
“We will go a step further if they continue. We know what to do. They
need to comply. They need to come to the negotiation table. We
halted the spate of sack in the oil industry and we succeeded.
“Even if you are going to lay off, there is a way to declare redundancy,
there is a process. Section 20 of the labour act says it. You must call
the unions and discuss with them. You don’t just treat them as slaves
in their own country and you want us to keep quiet.
“We want them to maintain the status quo. As far as I am the minister
of labour, I will protect the interest of workers; same to the
telecommunication companies, they are also talking about compiling
lists without discussing with anybody.”