Fidelity Bank Plc has distanced itself from the news making the rounds that it was promoting anti-labour practices in the bank.
The bank in a letter addressed to the President, Nigeria Labour Congress, which was in response to an earlier letter by the congress, stated that such information does not represent the true position of affairs in the bank.
“You may wish to note that Fidelity Bank had never in its history engaged in any sort of the practice you have referred to and at the extremely inconvenient period of the global recession in 2009, unlike some other banks in the country who engaged in mass sack of its workforce, we resorted to salary cut negotiated by staff and management, to preserve jobs rather than sack any staff of the bank.
“We equally find the assertion that we are obstructing unionisation in the bank untrue. Considering that the formation or joining of any union is voluntary, the bank therefore is not in a position to compel its staff to join the Union or refrain from doing so.
We are uncomfortable with the approach you have adopted in taking an affirmative position on these issues without as much as verifying the authenticity or otherwise of the information you had relied on. We have a high regard for the NLC and would like to assure you of our continued respect,” the letter jointly signed by Ifeanyi Monye and Tonie Obiefuna of its Human Resources department stated.