How globalization has enhanced unethical practices in banks - Union boss
By ALBAN OPARA
Thursday, July 24, 2008

Bank workers have raised more issues on the several allegations about unethical practices levelled against them. Comrade Hassan Adeleke, the national president of National Union of Banks, Insurance, Financial Institutions' Employees, NUBIFIE, during an interview with Daily Sun, did not mince words to say that there are many unethical practices in banking industry. “We could not talk about them.” But he said that his union could not keep quiet about unethical practices that concern workers.

The union leader alleged that some of the unethical practices in banks include illegal engagement of staff, denying female staff their fundamental rights, encouraging female workers to indulge in immoral acts in an effort to meet targets, and banks declaration of unreliable high profit.

Comrade Adeleke told Daily Sun in an interview that he made submissions on June 26, 2008, on these allegations to the House Committee on banking and currency, probing unethical practices incidences in banks.

On the memorandum submitted by NUBIFIE on the issue, he said, “whereas issues relating to unethical practices and corporate governance are indeed serious matters affecting virtually all organized private sector of the economy and, not peculiar to banking industry alone, however, in the banking industry, because of its interface with the public in the course of providing services, unethical practices become easily discernable.”

Beginning from the late 80s, the face of banking and its practices began to alter from the traditional conservative mode of operation as a result of the introduction of information and communication technology (ICT).
Again, the shift in focus in relation to human resources management/recruitment brought in some new challenges in the area of staffing, training, and wage structures, among others.

Contract staffing
The combined effects of globalization and the banking sector reforms known as consolidation heightened the practice of outsourcing by the banks. From the employers' perspective, outsourcing of certain categories of the workforce regarded as non-core to banking operations is a convenient way of managing time and resources with little distractions.

Emloyers' response to competition, new management techniques, profit maximization engendered by the new face of capital, which is globalization, is at the root cause of outsourcing. Added to this is the new management techniques, which emphasise 'lean and compact' corporate management structure as a cost-effective strategy to maximize profit.
There are two type of outsourcing used in the banks, namely: recruiting agencies; and subsidiary.

Recruiting agencies
Some banks source for certain categories of workers from recruiting agencies where contractual or service agreement is between the banks and the recruiting agencies only.
Under such arrangement, workers that were outsourced, provided to the banks, owe their obligations to the recruiter being their primary 'employer'.

In this kind of 'employment' by proxy, the 'actual' worker is denied some basic fundamental rights and entitlements; namely, arbitary job determination and ceasure, regardless of years of service, short changing of salaries and allowances, denial of medical facilities as well as arbitary re-deployment to entirely new client without workers' consent.

These recruiting agencies most of whom are not duly licensed, and if they are, are not complying with section 23-27 Part 2, Cap 198 of the Labour Act, have now become not only centres of recruitment but a camp for abuse of human dignity of our teeming unemployed youthful population desperately seeking for job.

There is also the crisis of identity as to the right determination of the status of such outsourced workers. For instance, the workers carry the identity card of the bank they were deployed to and are bound by the rules and regulations of such banks, the same as permanent staffers, yet, the renumeration differs or segregated. While conceding that globalization is at the root of outsourcing and has come to stay we want to quote Mr. Peter Skyte National Officer with Amicus and President of Union Network International IT Committee, that “globalization may be an economic, social and political reality but the effects of globalization like outsourcing do not represent a process that unions and workers should automatically and passively accept as inevitable. Our role as unions is to make globalization work for and benefit society, and not to make society work for globalization”.
“We must put first, the workers and citizens, we are seeing an avalanche of annoucements of IT enabled services and business processes being moved into the country”.

The solution
The union leader in his submission offered solutions and he said, “first, recruiting agencies must comply fully with relevant provisions of Labour Act. Recruiting agencies should be encouraged to establish or form common platform to enable them meet with unions on employment-related issues and workers rights to belong to the union. Regular supervision or monitoring of the activities of recruiting agencies by relevant authorities saddled with that responsibility.
Workers outsourced to banks should have appropriate training and, at certain duration of time, should be converted to permanent employment.

Subsidiary
Some banks incorporate subsidiaries to manage internally some non-core categories of workers. Such subsidiaries come under the control of the banks' management. In this arrangement, core staff of the banks, usually not below a senior officer or a rank of manager are deployed to manage such subsidiaries.
In this circumstance, workers are better treated than those outsourced from recruiters, but at the same time certain abuse are discernable especially in the area of condition of service.

Since these subsidiaries are incorporated and presumed to be independent entity, there is hardly any economic contributions they make to the national econmic growth. It remains a matter of conjucture as to who regulates the activities of such subsidiaries and to whom they report.

Are the banks paying commission to its subsidiary for the services rendered, if so where does a margin of the commission goes to, after overhead cost? In order words, do the banks receive budget proposal from subsidiary for their services? These are some of the questions that urgently need to be addressed in order to restore sanity in the system and ensure workers under such arrangement are given not only a fair deal but also respect for their rights and human dignity.

Target setting
If there is one good initiative grossly abused by banks it is target setting.
Our understanding as a union on the concept of target setting is a projection set either as an individual or an organization to achieve within a specific time frame.

Even nations set target for themselves to achieve development goals. Yet what it entails is proper motivation and galvanization through channeling the initiatives of the citizenry to attain those targets.
So, essentially there is nothing wrong with target setting other than its misapplication by the banks.
The cut-throat competition for deposits and expansion of customer base have driven management of banks to make target setting as pre-condition for employment and pre-requisite for career advancement.
This is where the abuse of contract employment is rampant where they offer shadow employment for the purposes of scouting for funds. To make it sound harmless and glamorous, they are usually reffered to as 'Marketers.'

Although both sexes are engaged in marketing, the most vulnerable are the young female marketers who are made to go through high degree of strain, stress, pressure, deprivation of early family life among other unbearable and unprintable exploitations and violation of rights, liberties and human dignity.
Responsible target setting, yes, but should not be a pre-condition for employment, confirmation, termination, elevation or promotion, etc.
Because of pressure to meet targets within date lines, our sisters are driven to edgy limits of self-violation just to keep their jobs.

Our union have had cause to formally make a report on the issue pejoratively referred to, as “corporation prostitution”. On the advise of Central Bank of Nigeria, the bankers' committee set up a committee headed by the former managing director/chief executive officer, Ecobank, Mrs. Funke Osibodu to look into the whole issue of abuse of and exploitation of workers in the name of “target setting.”

The committee submitted its report, but the findings as expected did not reflect the reality on the ground and did not present the true reflection of its own case and that was exacly what happened in setting up that committee.