By Bimbola Oyesola
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has won a case against Union Bank, the parent body of Union Homes, at the National Industrial Court (NIC) that sat in Lagos in a suit filed by the bank to stop the TUC from picketing it for failing to pay ex-staff of Union Homes Savings and Loans Plc, one of its subsidiaries.
In the judgment delivered on Monday, June 20, 2022, by Hon. Justice S.H. Danjidda, the bank was ordered to pay up or face any industrial action deemed fit by the labour center.
The case, which was commenced by Union Bank in 2021, sought to stop the TUC from picketing or carrying out any other industrial action against the bank, despite refusing to pay the terminal benefits of the about 500 staff of Union Homes, which have become due since 2014.
The court dismissed the claims of Union Bank and held that TUC was legally entitled to carry out picketing and other industrial actions against the bank to demand the fulfillment of the bank’s obligations to the TUC members.
In the same vein, the court agreed with the submission of the congress’s attorney, Abdullah Omoloye, and granted the two principal reliefs sought by the TUC in its counterclaim.
In essence, the court affirmed the entitlement of the affected members of the congress to their terminal benefits and ordered the bank to pay all the outstanding terminal benefits.
Reacting, president of the TUC, Quadri Olaleye, said the judgment was a victory for the affected staff, Nigerian workers in general and the Nigerian masses.
“The judgment further demonstrates that the National Industrial Court is indeed progressive and hope for the Nigerian workers,” he said.