NLC Grounds Diamond Bank, Thousands of Customers Stranded

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) today picketed the corporate headquarters of Diamond Bank Plc on Victoria Island, Lagos, shutting down the bank’s operations around the world.

The development left thousands of the bank’s customers stranded and angry, as they could neither withdraw across the counter nor use any of the bank’s ATM services.

Pointblanknews.com gathered that the picketing came on the heels of a two-month ultimatum by labour to the bank, to stop casualising workers.

The ultimatum lapsed last night.
Officials of the bank told Pointblanknews.com that their management had made light of the threat by NLC, and were caught unawares.

The workers, pleading anonymity, disclosed that the bank had hired a sizeable number of graduates, and turned them into casual workers on
N50.000 monthly salary.

The workers said their casual status notwithstanding, the bank’s management had exploited the unemployment challenge in the country, making them work for long hours on end devoid of benefits.

The workers were full of praise for NLC for “coming to our rescue.” One told Pointblanknews.com gleefully that, “with this, Diamond bank will never remain the same.”

Pointblanknews.com also gathered that the bank’s top management had entered into talks with labour to secure an early resolution of the crisis.

On Tuesday the bank reportedly sacked about 100 of its staff, a few months after sacking about 250.