IT is not yet a quick fix, especially in the area of human capital needs for most merged banks, as they have continued to cut down on their workforce.This post-merger action has attracted stiff resistance from bank employees, who want strict adherence to the rules of their engagement by the new owners of the banks.After losing in the internal intrigues in the banks, the sacked employees have taken their case to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).In a petition to the apex bank, the disengaged workers alleged that the manner of their sack was designed to deny them their severance pay. They therefore asked the CBN to call the affected banks to order by directing the management to recall them or in the alternative properly disengage them.Even the retained workers, including senior management officers, are not faring better as their employers have continued to change the rules of their engagement.The situation is, however, worse for a large number of those who have been sacked in the recurring restructuring exercises, as no avenue for redress had been opened to them. Consequently, the aggrieved workers have taken to the streets in protests, and in some cases, occupying the zonal offices or headquarters of the affected banks in some state capitals and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).The Guardian learnt that the end of the current downsizing in the banking sector might not be in sight as the retained workers in the acquired entities might experience more stringent work environment.In fact, retained workers, who are not comfortable with the new terms and agreements of one of the merged banks have been given a deadline of February 3, 2012 to resign and get their severance benefits or stick to the new terms of employment.By last weekend, over 1,500 workers of an acquired bank had been laid off by the new 'master' bank in a most bizarre manner. The workers in the South-eastern zone were asked to report to a hotel in Port Harcourt for re-orientation exercise on Saturday but were shocked when they were handed sack letters peremptorily.According to details made available to The Guardian, retained members of staff indebted to the bank in form of loans and were given a month to pay up or have had their appointments terminated.Also, the data available to The Guardian showed that most of the sacked employees were polytechnic graduates or those without university degreesSo far, Access Bank and Intercontinental have fused while Ecobank has acquired Oceanic Bank. The branches of Intercontinental Bank now wear the corporate identity, of Access Bank. The closure of some branches of Intercontinental Bank is seen as part of the downsizing plan of the new owners.The completion of the merger of Access Bank and Intercontinental Bank is expected to end in March.In a statement sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Access Bank said the merger of business would be effected through a scheme of merger pursuant to Part XII of the Investments and Securities Act (No. 29) of 2007.The bank said it had envisaged that the merger would take between 18 and 24 months, adding that it was able to fast-track the process due to a number of factors such as the pre-merger integration process and the support of stakeholders.Meanwhile, rage and protestation have continued to trail last week's sacking of over 1,500 workers of Intercontinental Bank by the management of its new owners. On Monday, the affected workers in Abuja staged a peaceful protest at the Cadastral zonal branch office of the Intercontinental Bank near the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).The workers, who carried placards with different inscriptions such as: 'Say no to injustice, Give us our gratuity; Save our sweat; Pay us our gratuity and severance package now,' told The Guardian that the exercise was a witch-hunt by the new core investor.The spokesman of the sacked workers, Mr. Pauli Isiguzo, alleged that the new management was acting out a prepared script to weed out Intercontinental Bank workers and replace them with those of Access Bank. He said while a six-month appraisal time was set for them for May this year, the management last week handed them termination letters.He claimed that the workers irrespective of their departments were given unrealistic deposit targets ranging from N500 million to billions of naira to meet.Isiguzo said they were directed to prevail on customers not to withdraw from their accounts, particularly between December and last January or be ready to mobilise new deposit in place of withdrawn monies if they were to keep their jobs.The workers under the platform of the Group of 2012 Unjustly Terminated Staff of Intercontinental Bank Plc, who petitioned the CBN, alleged injustice by their new management in the handling of their sack.In the petition, a copy of which The Guardian obtained, they appealed to the apex bank to ensure an immediate withdrawal of their termination letters and in the alternative, proper letters of disengagement issued to them with full severance packages defined for all grades of the employees.When contacted on the issue, CBN spokesman, Mr. Mohammed Abdullahi, replied that he was in a meeting and could not comment on it.Access Bank's Head of Corporate Affairs, Mr. Austin Edoja Peters, who said he was working on the management's reaction, also failed to respond to The Guardian's enquiries at the time of going to press.
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