All is not well at Republic Bank

Nov 27, 2018 Letters

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Dear Editor,

‘We’re the one for you’. We hear it on the airwaves, we see on social media and advertisement boards all across Guyana. Even the smallest child can recite it, but dare I say, the slogan doesn’t represent the actual realities at Republic Bank Guyana.
There have been increased complaints on social media and on other media houses about the bank’s increasingly poor customer service.
Despite the importance of the aforementioned topic, this is not the real reason for me penning this missive. Unfortunately, there has been even more devastating developments at the popular bank of late. This new development has left workers fuming, albeit, behind closed doors. I dare say they complain behind closed doors for fear of victimisation.
Systematic Victimization
Systematic Victimization is nothing new to Republic Bank. It has been happening since time immemorial. The senior managers who are usually responsible for promotions and salary assignment usually hold staff members at ransom.
Employees who are vocal and not inclined to ‘toe the line’ are often discriminated against. There are many horror stories of staff members being left in the cold for years on end under the pretence by seniors that their performances are too poor to warrant a promotion.
Junior workers who retaliate are sent to a certain department, which essentially kills their careers. The bank practises internal recruitment from second level employees onwards and hire junior workers.
Though this is a good strategy, only recently, staff members were actually given the chance to apply for internal postings as opposed to placements by their managers (which were practised for years). Internal sources suggest that the application system is also rigged since some staff believe favouritism is still the order of the day.
Workers’ rights
December 10 will mark 70 years of the Convention on Human Rights. Guyana is fully signed on to the United Nations conventions. For this specific context however, I wish to make special mention of Article 2 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; it reads, ‘Everyone is entitled to all the rights and freedoms set forth in this declaration without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex,, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status. Furthermore, no distinction shall be made on this basis of the political, jurisdictional or international status of your country or territory to which a person belongs, whether is independent, trust, non-self-governing or under any other limitation of sovereignty’.
Staff members have complained about the continued efforts to muzzle their political identity. Somehow, senior management have managed to prohibit staff members from any political writing and/or, be it on the social media platform or any other platform.
This form of oppression has been accepted and almost circularised by the bank. If this is not violation, I’m not sure what is.
Lack of Staff Representation
Republic Bank (Guyana) Inc. has its parent company in Trinidad and Tobago. Over there, staff members enjoy representation from a very vibrant staff union. This Union has been able to effectively represent the staff on many different levels, more so, in the area of staff increases and emoluments.
Recently, workers in Trinidad rejected a 6% offer by the CEO, whilst the workers in Guyana were arbitrarily given 2% in July.
It is important to note, that there is no staff representation when these decisions are made; staff are made to simply accept whatever is given to them and move on.
The bank has been without a staff association for many years and has never had a union. Many attempts to have the staff members unionised have been shut down by management or due to fear of victimisation, employees refused to sign on.
Generally, unions need at least 50% of the staff to buy-in before any move can be made to have the bank unionised but employees have been reluctant.
Senior Management does not create the environment for any negotiations either. One instance is evident when one particular employee attempted to solicit support from staff to get unionised, only for the notion to be shot down. This move also saw that employees never being promoted for many years though their performances were up to scratch.
Arbitrary transfer of an entire department
All my ramblings above culminates in this particular incident, which proves the draconian nature of Republic Bank Guyana. Currently, the two top managers of the bank (including the CEO) are Trinidadians. I have no personal issue with Trinidadians. However, I do believe that it is difficult for Trinidadians to understand Guyanese difficulties.
Recently, management made the decision to uproot an entire department and relocate this department to the Triumph branch. My issue is not with the bank; however, there are a couple of factors I wish to highlight for consideration.
1. This village is about 20 minutes from Central Georgetown. The department consists of about 9-12 employees and most of these if not all live on the East Bank, Central Georgetown and West Coast Demerara.
2. The traffic on the East Bank in the mornings is generally very taxing; employees have to leave very early to combat it, thus would be extremely tried by the time they get to work.
3. Some employees have children whom they would take to their respective schools, etc. To have the children at school so early is basically not safe.
4. Workers still would need to get to work for the normal 7:45; employees arriving after this time would be considered late and this would significantly impact their staff report.
5. NO additional allowances were offered to staff for transportation or any other expenses.
6. NO incentives were offered to staff members who would be adversely affected by this move.
7. It is important to note, ALL the members of department made it clear that they did not want to move.
Is this the kind of treatment we want for our employees? This institution prides itself as a reputable organisation; yet, staff members are treated as second class. I will admit that the bank intends to provide a TEMPORARY shuttle service only in the MORNINGS for department members.
I am not sure what will happen in the evenings, I guess everyone has to either take a cab (at one’s expense) or take a bus. Employees are hesitant to ask for transfers to avoid this dilemma due to fear of being dumped in a ‘certain department’.
This fear resonates especially in young employees who are starting their careers and this is exactly what the management thrives on. For fear of victimisation of their loved ones, who are employees, relatives are afraid to expose the dictatorial and archaic system at RBL Guyana, but it needs to stop.
Employees need to understand their rights and fight for same.
Concerned and affected relative and customer.

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