Yusef Taylor, @FlexDan_YT
Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Staff have again threatened to stage a sit-down strike starting tomorrow, 24th September 2020, after Central Bank talks failed. A letter addressed to all staff indicates that “this time our Managing Director [Adesina Adebesin] should go, we do not have confidence in him leading us anymore”. The letter reveals that “both Board of Directors and the Managing Director do not have staff interest at heart but to continue exploiting the hardworking deserving staff for their own pockets.”
Speaking to a source working at GTBank they explained that after the sit-down strike held on 9th July 2020, the Central Bank of the Gambia came in to mediate a resolution between staff and management. However, since then nothing positive has materialised from the talks leaving staff “with no option but to now result to another strike indefinitely until our demands are meet effectively tomorrow Thursday 24th September 2020 from 8 am.”
Our source alleges that some staff have not been given permanent contracts after years of service while others have not been promoted after years of service. The letter alleges that Managing Director Mr Adesina Adebesin “has single-handedly changed the staff policies in his favour against the staff” since the previous protest. “The number of policies changed recently are totally against staff interest but are to favour him and strengthen his plans to come back to the staff for going on the strike.”
The letter reads that “if any individual or group of individuals are victimized during and after the strike at any time, staff will be going on another strike until the person or group of individuals accorded due respect, benefits or re-instated.”
Efforts will be made to visit GTBank tomorrow and speak to Executive Director of GTBank Gambia Ltd, Mr Adedina Adebesin.
Strike Rules
The letter ends with four rules which are summarised below
- All staff to report as usual but report to the back of the Bank building with front doors closed together with banking halls.
- All staff are to keep maximum discipline
- Only authorized staff are to speak to the Media
- No Staff should go back to work until advised accordingly
More details on the first GTBank Sit Down Strike reported by Gainako Online News.
Sit Down Strike: GT Bank Staff refuse to Serve Customers as Strike Action Commences