The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • ‘Probe death of Hajj pilgrims’

    ‘Probe death of Hajj pilgrims’

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have expressed shock over the reported death of hundreds and injured pilgrims recorded during a stampede that occurred at the annual ritual ‘Stoning of the Devil’ during the hajj, outside the holy Muslim city of Mecca.

    In a statement by  TUC President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, the congress said it was painful that while “we were yet grappling with the over a hundred people killed in Mecca when a construction crane fell on the crowded Grand Mosque, another one happened.”

    According to the congress, ‘’record has it that the last time a tragedy of this magnitude befell pilgrims was in July 1990, when 1,426 pilgrims perished in an overcrowded pedestrian tunnel leading to holy sites near Mecca. It was the ninth in a string of such incidents since then; and we had thought that by now the Saudi government should have addressed the cause of such aviodable deaths. It just does not make any sense for people to die in places of worship, especially at an occasion as important as Islam’s most important feast and day of the stoning ritual.

    “Apart from the 1,426 pilgrim that died in 1990, 350 pilgrims also died in 2006 which eventually prompted Saudi Arabia to employ some remedial measures. We do not expect this kind of colossal loss at this time and age, again. It’s just too grave to bear,” added the TUC.

    The labour body said  the Saudi Arabia government must accept responsibility for this catastrophic loss, and as a matter of urgency order an investigation and a review of the kingdom’s plans for annual Hajj pilgrimage.

    The NLC  also expressed shock  on  the extent of the losses.

    In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, he said: “We call for a thorough investigation of the two major incidents that led to these deaths.

    “In order for transparency and re-assurance, we urge that countries whose citizens perished in the two incidents be made members of the body of inquiry.

    “But most importantly, perhaps, time has come for the Saudi authorities to review their crowd control management techniques and administration of hajj, generally”.

  • NLC drums up support for Trustfund

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged Nigerian workers to review upwards the patronage of their  Pension Fund  Administrator, Trustfund Pensions Plc.

    The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, in his address at the congress leadership retreat in Calabar, Cross River State, lamented that the patronage of  workers of the PFA was less than encouraging.

    “It needs to be emphasised that the rate of patronage of the Trustfund PLC, in which we have 10 per cent share in, and which affords Congress the opportunity to nominate a representative on the Board of Directors, is far from encouraging.”, he said

    As a step towards addressing the problems, the NLC boss said the congress will need to review why this is so, and take steps to remedy it.

    The Managing Director of Trustfund Pensions Plc, Mrs. Helen Da-Souza, in her presentation at the event, commended organised labour, whom she said has been in the vanguard of shaping popular opinion and government policies on social security and pensions through various initiatives.

    She said: “This has rightly made labour a major stakeholder in the pension industry in the country.

    “Trustfund Pension Plc’s ownership structure is utmost formidable selling point in the pension market place. Organised Labour/Social Partners- the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC); Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), are key investors in Trustfund Pensions Plc.”

    She noted that organised labour, beyond its financial investment, is recognised as a major stakeholder and driver of the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), especially in the private sector and in states where the CPS has been introduced and implemented.

    On the challenges of non remittance by the employers and state governments, Da-Souza said over over 30 per cent Retirement Savings Accounts (RSAs) are unfunded, adding that inspite of the coverage to state and local governments, less than 10, out of 36 states have fully implemented the CPS.

    She however noted that despite roles played by organised labour in the success of the CPS, Trustfund is yet to enjoy the level of support and patronage expected of a company in which labour has a strong stake.

  • Perm Sec seeks fund for Labour ministry

    Perm Sec seeks fund for Labour ministry

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illoh has called on the Federal Government to strengthen the ministry for optimal performance in view of its contribution to the growth and development of the country.

    Illoh made the request at the State House, while briefing President Muhammadu Buhari on the activities of the ministry.

    He said the need to place this ministry within the economic and security category with appropriate funding of its activities cannot be over-emphasised as ministries of labour all over the world are key to national survival, growth and development, adding that it is the nation’s human capital resources that are responsible for the attainment of these critical objectives.”

    Illoh assured that his ministry will continue to deploy globally accepted strategies, involving social dialogue, rule of law, due process, accountability, transparency and diplomacy in contributing to the process of national growth and development.

    He affirmed his commitment to re-positioning the ministry for employment generation, enhanced national productivity, industrial relations harmony and social security protection for all Nigerians in line with the present administration’s change mantra.

    In a related event, the Permanent Secretary  has said industrial peace and harmony is inevitable for economic growth and development, as no nation can thrive where its industrial climate is saturated with industrial disharmony.

    Illoh stated this  in Abuja at a two-day refresher course organised for labour and factory officers on grade levels 10-14 in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity Headquarters and the 36 state offices.

    He said the development of Nigeria depends on the labour force, which he described as the bedrock that creates the wealth of any nation, adding that it is the labour force in a society that determines the direction of that society.

    Dr. Illoh decried the insufficient number of both labour and Factory Inspectors to supervise the large number of factories all over the country in accordance with international standard to be achieved as set up by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    To address this situation, he said: “the ministry is recruiting Factory Inspectors and Labour Officers, saying that the ministry has been able to recruit up to 400 factory inspectors and labour officers in the last three years which is inadequate, compared to the number of factories that are liable for inspection. He said one way of solving this problem is through capacity development.

    Illoh recalled that during the ministry’s briefing to Mr. President, establishment promised to increase the number of inspections to at least 25,000 per quarter, which according to him will bring the number to 100,000 in a year.

  • 141,368 jobs created between May, August

    A total of 141,368 jobs were created in the second quarter. This represent a 69.9 per cent reduction from the 469,079 jobs recorded in the preceding quarter.

    In a report made available to The Nation by RTC (Resources and Trust Company) Advisory Service (a private economic consulting firm in Lagos), and signed by the Senior Consultant/CEO,   Opeyemi Agbaje, there are now 19.6 million people either unemployed or under-employed persons in the second quarter compared with 17.7 million in the first quarter.

    The report said the Nigerian economy has experienced a sharp economic downturn over the last two quarters and the domestic manufacturing sector is now in recession. It however, said  that the economy is expected to pick up with time.

    “We observe that the economic costs of the absence of an Economic Team and coherent policy in terms of lower growth, declining manufacturing performance, declining Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), rising inflation, increasing unemployment, declining capital market performance and low job creation, have been quite severe. In terms of personnel and appointments, we note that the President has made some good selections as well as several controversial ones.

    The Report said a full macroeconomic review was carried out, based on data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) which showed that real GDP lowered to 2.35 per cent in the second quarter from 3.96 per cent in first quarter.

    “Oil sector output declined by 6.79 per cent while non-oil output grew slightly by 3.46 pr cent. Five sectors namely mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply, accommodation & food services, and public administration recorded negative growths.

    “Manufacturing sector output growth in particular worsened from -0.7 per cent in first quarter  to -3.82 per cent in second quarter. This was largely attributed to oil refining, other manufacturing and food, beverage & tobacco.

    “Nigerian economy has experienced a sharp economic

    downturn over the last two quarters, and the domestic manufacturing sector is now in recession. A slide to an actual economic recession may still be averted by sound policy and economic leadership,” the reports said.

    The reports also reveal that within the  manufacturing, the falling sub-sectors include beverages and tobacco (-5.9 per cent); textile, apparel and footwear (-3.17 per cent); electrical and electronics (-0.38 per cent); motor vehicles and assembly (-0.48 per cent); and other manufacturing (-6.40per cent).

    In addition to manufacturing, other poorly-performing economic sectors include oil and gas, electricity, hotels and restaurants (accommodation and food services) and public administration.

     

  • Labour seeks probe of automobile industry

    Labour seeks probe of automobile industry

    Members of the Steel and Engineering Workers’ Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) have urged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the sale of automobile firms by the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE), some years ago.

    They are asking for a review of the privatisation process, claiming that due process was not followed in the sale of the companies.

    The National President of the union, Elijah Adigun, in his address, at this year’s Annual Industrial Relations Conference in Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, urged the Federal Government to set up a probe panel  to look into the sale of automobile industries and to determine why the guidelines provided for in the Privatisation Act, to the effect that the controlling shares of these companies should be sold to core investors, was not followed in the sale of these companies by the BPE.

    He insisted that for President Buhari to succeed with his agenda of creating jobs, he should take a second look at the privatisation by BPE, as no company privatised in the iron and steel industrial group is doing well.

    “For instance, Anammco Limited, National Truck, Steyr Nigeria Limited, Leyland Nigeria Limited are companies sold to auto traders instead of core investors who have knowledge, expertise and skills of vehicle manufacturing.

    The labour leader noted that before the privatisation of the auto plants, they had a combined workforce of nearly 7,000 compared to about 300 workers they now have, cummulatively.

    “It will interest you to know that before the privatisation of these auto plants, they had a combined workforce of nearly 7,000 compared with about 300 workers they have now,” he stated.

    “Clearly, the figure here is an indication that the privatisation of these companies has brought economic woes and wastages to the country, rather than the blessing envisaged by the Federal Government. Even salaries are hardly paid to their workers,” he said.

    Adigun, who expressed his union’s support for the Buhari-led administration’s battle against corruption, said it should not be selective and should be extended beyond the last regime to ensure that those who illegally appropriated the nation’s wealth are brought to book.

    He called on the government to grow the economy by exploiting other natural resources to create wealth and generate employment, adding that government needs to look at other areas apart from oil sector.

    The General Secretary of the union, Michael Ogbolu, in his paper, said the theme of the conference, “Survival strategies in an unfriendly environment-the Nigeria experience”, was quite appropriate, given that corruption has brought Nigeria to its knees.

    Calling for urgent attention to rejuvenate the power sector which he said holds the key to the restoration of the manufacturing sector,  Ogbolu expressed dismay that most vibrant factories in the past have been converted to places of worship due to unfavourable business environment.

    He condemned the insurgency in the Northeastern part of the country, which he said has a negative effect on its members’ companies’ volume of trade, leading to the loss of jobs in the sector.

    His words: Our Country which was a lucrative market for P.Z Industry Nigeria Plc, Dagcom Nigeria Limited, Jubaili Brothers Nigeria Limited, J.M.G. Limited and Cummings (West Africa) Limited, among others, has totally lost its share of the market in the region.”

    He praised Buhari for the efforts to remove Nigeria from the list of pariah nation’s and work in synergy with comity of nations to end insurgency in the North East of Nigeria, so that we can live in harmony with one destiny and restore the market volume of our inndustry.

  • Workers earn N730 per hour in Q2, says NBS

    Workers earn N730 per hour in Q2, says NBS

    Workers earned N730.85 per hour for their labour in the second quarter of this year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has reported.

    The report on labour productivity released by the NBS indicated that the wages of labour in the second quarter of this year was higher than the N669.57 per hour which workers earned in the first quarter of the year.

    The increase represent an improvement in the standard of living.

    The NBS stated: “High labour productivity can be an important signal of the improvement in real incomes (wages of labour).”

    The report also showed that the total hours workers spent on labour in the second quarter increased from 31.28 billion hours recorded in the first quarter to 31.50 billion hours.

    The NBS reported that the labour force grew from 73,436,104 recorded in the period under review to 74,010,602 in the second quarter.

    “The purpose of this brief report is to review recent trends in labour force and labour productivity in Nigeria, as well as compare with other emerging economies, with a view to highlighting possible areas of interest in the analysis of labour productivity in Nigeria,” the NBS said.

  • Expert attributes industrial accidents to negligence

    African labour experts have attributed industrial accidents, injuries and diseases in work places to negligence by industrial entrepreneurs who often compromise safety standards and regulations.

    Director at the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (ARLAC), Mr. Daniel E. Neburagho stated in Harare, Zimbabwe at a workshop on Employment Injury Compensation Schemes.

    Neburagho said the workshop was a collaboration of ARLAC and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to strengthen labour administration systems in 19-member countries.

    According to him, ILO statistics reveals that only 33 per cent  of the global labour force is covered by the law on employment injury through mandatory social insurance, adding that the statistics also indicates that even when voluntary social insurance coverage and employer liability provisions are included, only 39.4 per cent of the labour force is covered by the law.

    He observed that, in practice, actual access to employment injury protection is even lower, largely because of poor enforcement of legislation in many countries, the majority of which are in Africa and Asia.

    He stressed that, often times, industrial accidents, injuries and diseases occur because safety standards and regulations are compromised by industrial enterprises.

    He said: “As the popular saying goes, prevention is better than cure and once adequate preventive measures are in place, it obviously reduces the incidence and liability of catering for injuries and diseases during work.”

    While emphasising the need to enhance working conditions in respect of occupational safety and health, he expressed optimism that as more countries move from employer liability as the basis for employment injury protection to a mechanism based on social insurance, levels of protection for workers are likely to improve.

    Participants at the workshop were drawn from Ghana, Lesotho, Liberia, Nigeria, Malawi, Mauritius, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, and Zimbabwe.

  • TUC mourns HID Awolowo

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) mourns Chief (Mrs) Hannah Idowu Dideolu Awolowo, the matriarch of the Awolowo family and wife of late Obafemi Awolowo, who reportedly died last week in her sleep at her Ikenne, Ogun state home.

    In a statement signed by its President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama and Secretary-General, Comrade Musa Lawal, said the woman once described as “ jewel of inestimable value” by her husband has left so much to be desired.

    According to the congress, the nonagenarian until her husband’s demise on May 9, 1987 was his pillar of strength, adding that though mama was old yet “we had wished she lived more years to see the dream of her husband concerning Nigeria come to pass.”

    While we mourn Mama’s demise, we take solace in the fact that she left a worthy legacy behind. There was no doubt that she was a woman of uncommon strength and virtue. It takes a lot of gut to sustain the laudable political legacies and values of her husband, the great Chief Awolowo.

  • NMA debunks sale of hospitals

    The Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) has debunked the claim by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) that government plans to sell off hospitals under the guise of public-private partnerships (PPP) .  The association said  the union was afraid of the work place discipline that private sector control would bring to hospitals.

    Head of NMA’s clinical governance committee Dr Joseph Ana accused JOHESU of wanting its members to continue with their bad work ethics while they receive salaries ferom the government.

    A recent report quoted JOHESU of accusing the government of planning to sell  hospitals.

    He stressed that private sector involvement in health would bring in corporate efficiency, discipline and resources which government alone cannot afford, if it is to deliver on health promises.

  • ITF, NIPC to promote women, youth entrepreneurship growth

    ITF, NIPC to promote women, youth entrepreneurship growth

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) and the Nigeria Investment Promotion Council, (NIPC) are to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that would facilitate the training and development of women and youth entrepreneurs.

    ITF is also set to host the first-ever National Skills Summit to revive the manpower sector and change the face of training, skills development, job creation and entrepreneurship in Nigeria.

    ITF Director-General/Chief Executive Officer, Dr.  Juliet Chukkas-Onaeko, made this known while receiving the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Investment Promotion Council, (NIPC), Mrs. Uju Hassan-Baba, in her office in Abuja.

    Mrs. Chukkas-Onaeko  said  the agency was mindful of President Muhammadu Buhari’s disposition towards youth empowerment and job creation to address unemployment, pointing out that  ITF has realigned some of its activities to enable it drive change in that direction.

    She said capacity building for women entrepreneurs is one of ITF’s areas of focus, noting that the fund would also continue to train women and youths in book keeping, business decision making and identification of markets for products.

    Pledging to broaden the synergy for manpower development, particularly in the non-oil sectors, Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko and Hassan-Bada noted that the collaboration was critical to effective local skills acquisition and manpower development for driving diversification.

    According to Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko, ITF is shifting focus from dependence on oil.

    She said with its abundant manpower deposits, Nigeria could become one of the most industrialised nations in the world.

    ITF, she said, has raised a business training team that can handle the training of women and youth entrepreneurs. ITF, she said, has over 1,000 trainers that provide services in basically all sectors of the economy.

    Mrs Chukkas-Onaeko stressed the need for local skill development in other sectors of the economy that are of comparative advantage to the country.

    Empowering women, she said, was critical to ITF’s agenda as well, adding that both agencies have agreed to collaborate on capacity development for women entrepreneurs along the agricultural value chain.