The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • ‘Why employers should embrace compensation scheme’

    The commencement of the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS) by the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is influenced by the need to ensure that injured workers are not abandoned to their fate, its Acting Managing Director, Ismail Agaka, has said.

    He said safety at workplace was for employers and employees, saying employers thought it was for the benefit of the workers alone, hence their reluctance to enrol their workforce on the scheme.

    The NSITF boss stressed that it was erroneous for employers to think that the scheme was for the benefit of employees alone, saying that everybody is exposed to one form of occupational hazards or the other in the workplace.

    He argued that joining a scheme that promised treatment and rehabilitation of injured workers in the course of work was a huge incentive for higher productivity.

    “Joining this kind of scheme boosts the morale of the employees without shouting it. Boosting the morale of employees is more than just increasing the salaries and allowances,” he said.

    The NSITF boss also pointed out that higher productivity in the workplace always showed in the bottom-line of organisations.

    His words: “Higher bottom-line means more money coming into the company. It will also lead to better industrial climate in the workplace. A harmonious industrial relation in the country would lead to national cohesion.

    “The burden of care is transferred to the NSITF for an employer should there be any workplace accident, injury, disability or occupational disease. The scheme helps employers overcome unanticipated expenditure, especially if such comes when the organisation is not financially strong enough for such expenses.

    “How do organisations address this kind of development during cash flow challenge? Such development could lead to employees seeing their employers as wicked and uncaring, regardless of challenges such employer may be going through.”

    On the benefits of the scheme, Agaka said compensation also applied to victims of plane crashes who lose their lives in the course of work.

    ”First, if the employer of such a victim of plane crash was registered, the survivor of such a person would be compensated.

    “Secondly, the journey must be in the course of carrying out official duty. If it is confirm that it was an official trip in the course of work, then the next of kin or the dependent of the deceased employee is covered. Indeed, many such claims have been processed by the NSITF,” he said.

    Explaining that the NSITF did not operate hospitals where injured workers are treated, he said medical bills incurred by organisations on the treatment of injured workers would be settled and that NSITF would take over the treatment if it is long term.

  • Pensioners praise govt, seek payment of arrears

    The Nigeria Union of Pensioners  has commended the Federal Government on the payment of 12-month arrears of 33 per cent pension increase to its members.

    In a statement by its President,  Dr. Abel Afolayan,  the union appreciated the payment of 30-months’ arrears of same to para-military pensioners, who comprise Customs, Immigration and the Prisons Service, despite  the current economic situation.

    The  union,  however,  appealed  to the Federal Government to ensure the speedy payment of the remaining 18 months arrears to civilian pensioners.

    The statement reads: “Equally, we were surprised that as the civilian pensioners collected 24 months, para-military got the entire 42 months’ arrears and the Nigerian military pensioners got 42 months. It is surprising that the Nigeria Police pensioners got only three months. How on earth can someone explain this grave injustice done to the police pensioners? This is highly inexplainable.

    “We appeal to Mr. President to please use his love for all and good offices to address this great injustice being done to the members of  the Nigeria Police Pensioners, who have used their youthful period to serve the nation.’’

  • NECA blames rising unemployment on lack of good governance

    NECA blames rising unemployment on lack of good governance

    The Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) has blamed the upsurge in unemployment on lack of pervasive development and absence of good governance.

    NECA’s Director-General, Olusegun Oshinowo, who spoke in Lagos, at the launch of an initiative profile, ‘virtual office’, by its sister’s body, Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW), said Nigeria was a developing country with untapped opportunities, waiting to be harnessed.

    He argued that if Nigeria got its act right, the country should not be looking for manpower to support the economy, adding that until Nigeria realised that her problem is not majorly unemployment, it would continue to treat the symptoms rather than the disease.

    “How can a country with large arable land have graduates of agriculture that are unemployed? How can a country, which is the biggest exporter of crude oil in Africa and sixth in the world, have graduates of chemical engineering and geology that are unemployed? The two do not really connect,” he said.

    Oshinowo said the country’s problem was not unemployment, but failure of good policies to promote meaningful development in all strata of government.

    The virtual office, which is a space utility facility with full application that includes professional live communications, is designed to meet the growing demand of Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) for affordable office space.

    Having recognised that not all start-up businesses would have the means or the resources to acquire its own office space or facility to start-up, Oshinowo said they need a workplace environment to utilise their vocational skills, stating that if the business environment has not been friendly to sustain existing businesses and encourage new ones, they may not have a place to utilise them.

    “We need to get our priority right. It seems like a marathon kind of approach, which will eventually lead to the resolution of our usual employment. We have got to take a step along that way by prioritising meaningful development, good government policies, encouraging good governance in all strata of government. If we fail to do that, whatever other measures we take to solve unemployment would not lead anywhere,” he said.

    A member of NNEW Governing Council, Mrs. Fayo Williams, noted that good governance is essential to the development of the economy and people of Nigeria.

    According to her, Nigeria needs a lot of inter-agency cooperation with a marshal plan that would help the country harness its human and natural bountiful resources.

    “We need to get the economy going, using the SMEs as a launch pad, making them feel welcome and helping them overcome some of the hydra-headed issues to make them more relevant now in the 21st Century,” she said.

  • Over 4,000 jobs lost in steel sector in two years

    Over 4,000 jobs lost in steel sector in two years

    From 2014 till date, over 4,000 workers in the steel sector have lost their jobs, and many companies have closed down due to economic hardship in the sector.

    At the Steel and Engineering Workers’ Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) 2016 Annual Industrial Relations Workshop in Benin, Edo State, Its president, Comrade Elijah Adigun, said there was no company in the sector that has not engaged in one form of downsizing of workers or the other.

    According to him, the only reason for the redundancy was the scarcity of Foreign Exchange (forex) to import raw materials.

    “You will recall that in my address last year, I reported happenings within our sector in terms of failure of privatisation programme by the Federal Government that sold government’s shares in these industries to non-core investors, thereby rendering the very essence of privatisation totally useless. As we speak, none of these sold government agencies has made any progress,” Adigun said.

    Adigun said the situation had forced many companies to either downsize or shut down.

    “The unemployment situation is seriously bad, yet the government is appealing that they share our pains as if that will bring food to the table. What we need now is massive job creation and not empty slogan that appeals to nobody,” Adigun said.

    He pointed out that no meaningful success wouls be recorded in a country where the national minimum wage was N18,000, adding that no worker can survive with such meagre salary.

    “Government should, therefore, diversify the economy; create massive job opportunities for the army of unemployed youths with a living wage that will distract them from seeking alternative corrupt sources of income to make ends meet,” Adigun recommended.

    The General Secretary of the Union, Comrade Michael Ogbolu, said the union was against the sale of government’s assets, arguing that it will lead to the death of most of the organisations.

    “We are all living witnesses when the previous administrations privatised some wholly and partially owned Federal Government companies, while assuring Nigerians that the programme would lead to increased capacity utilisation aimed at creating jobs for our teeming workforce.

    “Instead, the programme led to the death of most privatised companies, because the companies were sold to entrepreneurs without expertise to manage the companies sold to them,” Ogbolu recalled.

    He said a good example  of the charade was the sale of Steyr Nigeria Limited, Bauchi; Leyland Nigeria Limited, Ibadan; National Trucks Limited, Kano; Volkswagen Nigeria Limited; among others.

    “Having successfully squandered the proceeds of sales of privatised companies and plunged the nation into recession, the same people are flying the kite to sell part of our remaining national assets such as the performing Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (LNNG).

    “We wish to call on the conference in session to as a matter of necessity endorse the wise resolution of the labour community to embark on protest should the Federal Government  persist to nurse the dream to further sell part of our performing national assets, as ordinary Nigerians including workers will bear the brunt of the aftermath,” Ogbolu said.

  • NAAT calls for dissolution of tertiary institutions’ boards

    The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has called for the dissolution of boards of governing councils of universities and other tertiary institutions.

    In a communiqué at the end of its 30th National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, NAAT urged President Muhammadu Buhari to dissolve the governing boards of the federal tertiary institutions whose tenures had expired as well as those boards that are incompetent and corrupt.

    The communiqué, by its General Secretary, Comrade Iyoyo Hamilton, NAAT said the President should dissolve the boards and replace them with competent members who are conversant with such institutions.

    The association also advised the Federal Government to be more proactive in tackling recession in the country so that Nigeria can quickly come out of it.

    “Government may do so by providing the enabling environment for stable economy, and encourage more investment in the agricultural and solid mineral sectors,” the communiqué said.

    NAAT also reinstated its full support for the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in the university system, saying that those university managements who are vehemently opposing its implementation within the system are doing so because of corruption.

    Comrade Suleiman said the association supports the TSA because the policy will curb corruption, saying that was why some corruptly inclined officers within the system kicked against its implementation.

  • Casualisation, outsourcing inhuman, says ASSBIFI

    Casualisation, outsourcing inhuman, says ASSBIFI

    The President of  the Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Comrade Sunday Olusoji Salako, has described outsourcing and casualisation as inhuman.

    Speaking at the ‘2016 Decent Work’ organised by the association, Salako blamed the three tiers of government for not making the war against the menace easy, noting that governments  also encouraged the  use of contract staff, outsourcing and casualisation.

    Salako, who described outsourcing and casualisation as modern slavery that should be eschewed from the workplace across the country, noted that the 2016 edition of decent work was very crucial based on the danger casualisation and outsourcing posing for workers’ wellbeing.

    The Deputy President of the Union, Comrade Oyinkan Olagunsoye, urged union members to strive to always protect the interest of one another.

    Speaking on the topic: “Building Workers Power Against Corporate Greed and Week Corporate Governance”, the Guest Speaker, Mr. Martins Smart, said: “Majority of corporate bodies and some government agencies regrettably use work force as tool to remain afloat without putting in place good welfare package that will cater for the interest of the workers.

    Smart said the question is should workers pay the price for the greed and weaknesses of organisations and the utter failures of regulatory bodies to monitor corporate organisations more effectively by ensuring that policies and guidelines laid down in corporate governance template are strictly adhered to?

    Martins, who is the MD/CEO, Martco Consulting Services, said it was time workers no longer be used and dumped by employers.

    He called on union leaders to always be seen as useful tools in the workplace, saying workers need to be more involved in taking decisions at all levels where welfare matters are to be discussed. He said organisations, on their part, should regard people as the greatest assets they cannot treat with levity.

    “The issue of corporate governance should be properly enforced by various regulatory authorities to the extent that they should have zero tolerance for defiance, corporate greed and weak corporate governance. The leaders of workers’ unions should embark on aggressive mobilisation or unionisation of all companies in Nigeria,” he said.

    Worried by the lackadaisical attitude towards workers in the country, Martins said the only way workers could guide against employers’ weak corporate governance was through strict implementation of statutory framework for corporate governance.

    He urged the three tiers of government to ensure the enforcement mechanism are dully carried out so as to safeguard the interest of workers. This, according to him, will encourage more investments in Nigeria and help tackle the current economic recession.

  • Workers seek action against precarious work conditions

    Nigerian workers, under the aegis of Nigeria Council of Industrial Global Union, have called for concrete action against precarious work conditions which workers have been subjected.

    Precarious work, according to the union, refered to work relationship with no distinct terms of employment such as letter of employment stating the terms and conditions of the employment relationship. The result is that the workmen are hired, supervised and remunerated by a contractor.

    Lamenting what they described as “increasingly precarious work conditions,” the workers urged for concrete economic, political, and institutional framework and policies that will bring about decent work for the working class.

    Leading the call during activities to commemorate this year’s ‘World Day for Decent Work,’ the Chairman, Nigeria Council of Industrial Global Union, Comrade Igwe Achese, said all over the world, particularly in Nigeria, workers were becoming increasingly precarious and endangered.

    Achese said: “One of the strategic actions of Industrial Global Union and, of course, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), was to fight against precarious work through joint actions of the affiliates to reduce or limit the use of precarious work and to ensure labour rights to precarious workers.

    The other, he said, was to ensure that government and employers do the needful in making sure that workers’ rights were guaranteed, and that workers were giving their due rights.

    Achese noted that poverty level was rising sharply, with workers at the receiving end, as cost of living continues to skyrocket almost on daily basis.

    He lamented that Nigerian workers in all the sectors have been subjected to precarious work conditions marked by widespread casualisation, widening poverty circle and increasing inequality.

    Achese, who doubles as President of National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) as well as factional Deputy President of the Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), decried increasing job insecurity, poor health of workers and absence of safety provisions, long work hours, lower wages and low quality of jobs.

    According to him, studies showed that women are worse victims in the categories of precarious work conditions, and are more deprived of basic workers’ rights with regards to working hours, medical, holiday, safety at work, and maternal care.

    Achese enumerated the grave impacts of precarious work to include inferior job status, lack of job security, absence of basic trade union rights, poor health and safety conditions, long hours of work, low and uncertain wages.

    Others are casual nature of engagement, reduction in life expectancy, widening inequality and increased poverty, social disequilibrium and crime as well as breakdown of family structure and value.

    Represented in the activity marking the annual global decent work agenda were members of various                                                    labour groups of NUPENG, PENGASSAN, Textile Union, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), NLC Lagos State Council and Delta State Council.

  • Don’t privatise water, unions advise govt

    Members of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), in collaboration with Public Services International (PSI) and Environmental Right Action (ERA), have cautioned against privatising water.

    The unions said water is a right, which cannot be priced.They urged the public to oppose the proposal, adding that the situation might compound what they described as the “global water supply crisis”.

    In a statement by AUPCTRE President, Adelegan Solomon and General Secretary Yusuf Zambuk, the union said: “We have been voicing out our concerns for the broken promises of water privatisation under the guise of Public-Private Partnership (PPPs). This is because PPPs are more concerned about profits maximisation, which is imperative of the private sector.

    “These broken promises include but not limited to corruption, lack of transparency,  contract and financial manipulation, poor service quality; under-investment, unsustainable and unbearable tariffs, which will make water inaccessible to the majority of the citizenry and inadequate financing.”

    The statement said as a result of these obvious realities, more cities and governments are bringing water back to public hands, not only in Africa, but also in the global north.

    The unions warned that  while maximising profits under PPP or privatisation, the public is made to drink unsafe water and become vulnerable to water-related diseases, such as cholera, diarrhoea, typhoid fever. These result to mass deaths and also make governments spend more in providing health services to the citizenry.

    To improve the effectiveness of one partner in providing public water supply and or sanitation services, the unions suggested a Public-Public Partnership (PuP) as an alternative to the Public–Private-Partnership arrangement.

    “To us, PUP means an alternative to the PPP, which is Public-Public Partnership. PuPs are peer relationships forged around common values or interests and objectives, which exclude profit seeking. The absence of commercial considerations allows public partners to re-invest all available resources into the development of local capacity, to build a mutual trust which translates into long term capacity gains, and to incur low transaction costs, the unions said.

    According to them, the comparative advantage of PUPs over PPPs extends to more ample opportunities for replication and scaling up.

  • Labour calls for solution to pension challenges

    The Kaduna State Chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have urged the government to address problems associated with contributory pension scheme.

    They advised that for a successful implementation of the government‘s reform plan, a strong committee, including stakeholders, should be constituted with a mandate and objectives.

    This was contained in a statement by the state’s NLC Chairman, Comrade Adamu Ango.

    The statement said the implementation of the reform by the Kaduna State Government should be done in phases to address issues that might arise during the execution of the reforms.

    The statement read: “The government should as a matter of priority, settle all outstanding arrears of salaries and entitlements of retirees before embarking on the reform.

    “Without prejudice to the existing norms, we wish to advise that ageing in the service should be by the provision as contained in the statute books, i.e. 35 years in service and /or 60 years of age and that should be maintained for uniformity with the civil service of the federation.

    “All problems associated with the contributory pension scheme should be addressed e.g. accrual valuation, reconciliation of remittance of employee/employer and the Group Life Insurance etc.’’

    The unions recommended that officers that had reached or soon to reach the retirement age/years of  service be allowed to voluntarily exit the service, while the government should make their entitlements ready for collection within the mandatory three months of notice to achieve a win-win situation.

     

  • ITF: Councils ’ll reduce skills gap

    The implementation of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) will reduce skills gap shortages, improve productivity and boost workers’ skills, the Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has said.

    Its Acting Director General/CEO, ITF, Mr. Dickson Onuoha, made this known at a media parley in Lagos.

    He explained that the sensitisation meetings for the implementation of SSCs have held in Abuja and Lagos and they yielded positive results.

    He said the SSCs would be driven by employer-led organisations that cover specific industries to support employers in developing and managing apprenticeship standards.

    The ITF boss added that the National Automotive Council has established a sector skills council for the automotive sector and that there are SSCs for Information Communication Technology (ICT), while other sectors are in the process of establishing theirs in the country.

    “SSCs are employer-led organisations that cover specific industries to support employers in developing and managing apprenticeships standards, reduce skills gaps and shortages, improve productivity and boost the skills of their sector workforces and improve learning supply.

    “Countries like the United Kingdom (UK), Singapore, and South Africa, among others, have used the SSCs to improve skills and occupational standards. Recall that to provide opportunity for evaluating and validating skills requirements at the national and state levels on a periodic basis, the Fund entered into collaboration with the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) for the establishment of sector skills in Nigeria,” he said.

    In a related event, the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has said it is working to ensure that the diversification policy of the Federal Government achieves the twin benefit of food security and job creation.

    NDE’s Acting Director-General, Mr. Kunle Obanya, said the agency was seeking ways to tackle the menace of youth unemployment through training schemes.

    Obanya said after months of hard work and creative thinking, over 40,000 new jobs and small scale businesses would be injected into the economy by the end of the year.

    He explained that the anticipated jobs would turn beneficiaries into wealth creators.