The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Job creation: ILO seeks increased public funding

    The Director General of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mr. Guy Ryder, has said the world urgently requires massive injection of public funding to be able to create massive jobs needed to reduce the global joblessness.

    According to him, about four million jobs could be generated in advanced economies and European Union alone with more public cash injections.

    “There are simply not enough public funds going to employment creation. Even in Organisation for Economic and Co-operation Development (OECD) countries with advanced labour market institutions, only 0.6 per cent of GDP went to promoting active labour market policies in 2011. Almost four million jobs could be created in advanced economies and the EU alone if this figure was doubled,” he said.

    Ryder explained that many youths are neither in employment nor in education, saying this means that countries are not able to create the employment opportunities they need despite having the best educated generation in human history. He also said that fiscal consolidation and weak private consumption have had a negative impact on produc-tion growth, while growing income inequalities, insufficient investment in quality education and training has also affected labour markets.

    “The challenges we face are not just about recovering from the crisis. There are also more long-term, structural challenges ahead, such as the growing urbanisation process, the rapid changes in technology and the threats to the environment. These also have a strong impact on the world of work and deserve our attention,” he said.

  • Telecom workers seek peace, harmony

    THE National Union of Postal and Telecommunications Employees (NUPTE) has charged the management of the newly inaugurated courier companies to cooperate with the union in order to maintain industrial peace and harmony in the sector.

    In astatement, the National President of the union, Comrade Sunday Alhassan, while absorbing the executives of the branches who were ceded to the union by the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), called on their  management to accord the workers’ representatives in their organisation cooperation they may require.

    The union has ceded the private courier workers, who were members of the Postal and Telecommunications to comply with the directive of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity.

    The new branches, according to the NUPTE National President, include United Parcel Service (UPS), DHL, IAS Express, TRANEX, and Courier Plus.

    “We wish to inform the public, particularly management of these companies that our union has elected executive officers in these companies,”Alhassan said.

  • Ebola: Union canvasses workers’ safety

    The global trade union federation, Public Services International (PSI) has condemned the preventable deaths of dozens of healthcare workers killed on the job by Ebola because they did not have the necessary tools and equipment.

    TheEbola outbreak in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone is the worst ever and the first to spill widely across several countries.

    PSI General Secretary, Rosa Pavanelli said: “We cannot accept pitiful excuses, whether from health ministers or donor agencies.  Health workers must have the tools to do their jobs.  All whose work brings them in contact with Ebola victims must have the protective gear.  Our members are dying because of unsafe working conditions, this is criminal neglect.”

    The leader of PSI’s West African Health Sector Unions’ Network (WAHSUN), Dr Ayuba Wabba, who is also the National President of the Medical and Health Workers Union (MHWUN) added: “We demand that Ministries of Health, the World Health Organisation and the West African Health Organisation to implement best practice guidelines for Ebola for all health facilities, including full and continuous supply of the needed equipment.

    “Establish policies and legislation to protect healthcare workers. Set up Ebola-specific information and communication centres in all national capitals, regions, districts and provinces to provide timely and accurate information to the public.

    “Intensify healthcare worker education on universal precautions and best practices for Ebola and other communicable diseases at all health facilities. Our unions will keep up the pressure, every day until our members no longer have to lay down their lives without cause, and until we are able to provide the quality care that is so urgently needed,” the union said.

    PSI said it would continue to support WAHSUN’s continuing leadership on behalf of the unions of health and social services workers of the region and their response to Ebola.

  • Textile workers call for unity against forced labour

    Textile Garment and Tailoring Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (TGTSSAN) has called on the Federal Government to ensure that the new global protocol against forced labour is given necessary attention.

    The protocol, which was recently adopted by the International Labour Conference (ILC) in Geneva, Switzerland is aimed at accelerating action against modern slavery in the World

    Speaking at a forum in Lagos on how the protocol has put the world leaders on the alert on new development to combat forced labour, which is rampant in the private sector, TGTSSAN’s National President, Comrade Ambi Karu, said the call became necessary to prevent our jobless youths from being usurped by the political class for that purpose.

    He said: “We are comfortable with the new ILO Protocol on forced labour that will put government of member states of the ILO on alerts. This is because the private sector is responsible for 90 per cent of the estimated 21 million victims of forced labour, reaping about $150 billion from some of the most severe forms of exploitation in existence.

    “We are more comfortable because over 92 per cent of, employers and worker delegates at the recent ILO Conference voted in favour of the protocol, which the ILO described as bringing one of its longest-standing instruments, Convention 29, into the modern era.

    “We are optimistic that the new ILO protocol, if taken seriously by the three tiers of government, the federal, states and local governments, will revitalise action to ending forced labour, and the new rule will put those who make money from slavery on notice, that the textile garment movement and our allies in the international scene will chase them down and bring them to account.”

    He said the new rule is already working in some countries.

  • Why we suspended the strike, by Judiciary workers

    The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria  (JUSUN) has said it decided to suspend its nationwide industrial action to give room for the implementation of the agreement on judicial independence.

    Speaking with reporters in Lagos, the Publicity Secretary of JUSUN, Kayode Igbarago,  said the union decided to suspend the strike for 45 days to enable a committee set up on the implementation of the court order on direct funding of the judiciary conclude its assignment.

    He said the decision was reached  at a meeting attended by representatives of the Accountant-General of the Federation, forum of national Accountants Generals, Ministry of Finance, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the National Judicial Council (NJC).

    Last month, JUSUN embarked on an industrial action to press for the execution of the Federal High Court judgment that judicial funding should be paid to the National Judicial Council (NJC) as provided by the constitution.

    JUSUN had filed the suit in 2012 challenging the piecemeal payment of funds accruing to the judiciary from the consolidated revenue fund contrary to the provisions of sections 81(3), 121(3) and 162(9) of the 1999 Constitution.

  • Workers kick against influx of expatriates

    Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) has called on the Federal Government to intervene in the influx of expatriates into the industry, stressing that it cannot move forward without the government’s intervention on the high rate of expatriate quota menace in the industry.

    CCESSA’s President, Comrade Augustine Etafo at an interactive session with reporters in Lagos, also called on the National Assembly (NASS) to take necessary steps to fast-track the deliberations on the local content bill to ensure that the policy is established as a local content Act in the construction industry.

    He said: “CCESSA observes that the influx of expatriates into the construction industry is still a common occurrence and not still abated, and call on the Federal Government to intervene as more Nigeria experts are being sacked on daily basis, or not given opportunities to be gainfully employed in the construction industry.

    “We advise NASS to take all the necessary steps and fast tract the deliberations on the local content bill to ensure that the policy is established as a local content Act in the Construction Industry. We also advise the Federal, State and Local Government to  address the needs of the youth.”

    According to Etafo, CCESSA recently reviewed youth unemployment, high level of corruption that creates a wide gap between the rich and the poor, the poor infrastructural facilities as some of the key challenges which the government must pay attention to for the country to address these security challenges.

    While identifying policies that would help boost the level of economic activities in the construction sector as well as necessary changes to be effected to ensure job creation and also minimise brain drain in the Industry, Etafo called on the three tiers of government to intensity efforts in the creation of jobs for the teaming youth population who are graduating from the higher institutions on a yearly basis.

    On security, Etafo condemned the challenges in various parts of the country, adding that its implications in the industry could spell doom for both the industry and the country at large as people walk and work with fear.

  • How to create jobs, by TUC

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has urged the Federal Government to reduce youth unemployment through technical and vocational skills policies that would boost jobs and entrepreneurship.

    TUC’s President, Comrade Bala Kaigama, made the submission while interacting with reporters in Lagos on the recently adopted set of 17 proposed goals on training skills for youth empowerment by the Open Working Group (OWG) of the United Nations (UN) that will be submitted to the UN General Assembly next month.

    He said: “To address the high rate of unemployment and insecurity in the country, we task the Federal Government to take bold action to substantially reduce the proportion of youth not in employment in the country through technical and vocational skills programmes that would boost decent jobs and entrepreneurship.

    “Special emphasis must be given policies on a new set of development objectives, including ambitious targets on full employment and decent work for at least 10 million youth annually, for the next five years to close the gap of unemployment.”

    According to Kaigama, in order to achieve the goal of decent work for all, significant efforts will be needed by the Government to reduce large number of the working poor, to increase employment rates for women, youth and people with disabilities in the country.

    “It makes good sense to combine decent work and inclusive growth through technical and vocational skills programmes for youth that would boost job creation and entrepreneurship. Safer workplaces and respect for labour rights are a fundamental step towards increasing job creation and entrepreneurship output and productivity as well as boosting inclusive growth.’’

    He, however, called for the implementation of nationally-appropriate social protection systems and measures for all, including social protection floors, as a crucial and transformative target within the overarching goals related to poverty eradication and the promotion of youth employment.

  • Why there are crises, by Wogu

    The declaration of redundancy by employers without consultations with workers’ representatives triggers industrial crisis in work places, theMinister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu, has said.

    Speaking at a forum in Lagos, Wogu said: “One major cause of this conflict and grievance in the workplace is the issue of un-procedural declaration of redundancy by the employers/management of labour in the country without wider consultations with the workers’ representatives, which triggers industrial crisis in the workplace. This falls short of the provisions in the extant labour legislations particularly Section 20 of Labour Act CAP LI LFN, 2004 of Nigeria”

    Arguing that no economic relationship can survive under a stiff and tense industrial atmosphere, he added: “This error or omission is not in tandem with the sacred principles of industrial democracy and social dialogue.”

    According to the minister, limiting the representation of the vulnerable employees and their influence on decisions that have far- reaching implications on their survival can cause industrial crisis at the work place

    “There is a need for respect of the sanctity of duly-signed collective agreement, which is expected to come into being through dialogue between the employers and workers. It should be kept sacrosanct until it expires,” he said.

    On expatriate quota, the Labour Minister said: “I urge the employers and unions in the workplace to cooperate with the government agencies in ensuring that expatriates are not indiscriminately allowed into the economy under the camouflage of any technically imagined job titles.”

    The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar in his goodwill message, called on employers respect their union for industrial harmony to thrive.

  • NDE trains 100 in Abuja

    The National Directorate of Employment (NDE) has kicked off a six-month in-house training in some trades at its new Model Multipurpose Skills Acquisition Centre at Kuduru, Abuja.

    Participants will be trained in eight trades: plumbing, auto-tronics, computer engineering, furniture making metal fabrication, electrical installation, GSM services, and fashion design.

    Coordinator of the NDE in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Romiluyi Oludare Newton urged the 100 trainees to adhere to rules of the camp or they wiould kicked out.

    He said beneficiaries should count themselves lucky because thousands applied for the scheme from all over the FCT. He reminded them that the directorate was shifting from training its participants through individual master trainers to a more formal school setting, which is obtainable at the new model skills centre.

    He assured the trainees and their trainers that the Director-General of NDE Mallam Abubakar Mohammed is passionate and committed to the success of the pilot training, considering the huge financial investment put into completing the skills acquisition centre for the training.

  • NLC chief canvasses workers’ training

    The Deputy President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Joe Ajaero has called on unions and right activists to invest in human capacity building to advance their positions and interests in the context of engagement with employers and government.

    Ajaero, who is also the General Secretary of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), made the call during the condolence visit of the NLC to the country home of the late Comrade Bamidele Francis Aturu in Lagos.

    He said: “The call was necessary because the only way to honour him for the vacuum created by his death is to promote human rights and labour movement through aggressive human capacity development.

    “Our call is necessary because Aturu, until his death, was not only our official lawyer; he was a very resourceful ally of the entire labour movement as a consistent comrade who committed his entire adult life to the struggle for a better society.’’

    He emphasised that Labour’s mobilising and organising capacity, for instance, can more ingeniously be utilised to advance its position and interests, in the context of engagement with other stakeholders.

    “I am of the view that labour and right groups must increasingly restate their relevance in the field of development, in the same way that both groups need to more clearly demonstrate a capacity to engender progressive policies, working in institutional arrangements with other relevant stakeholders, such as employers and government through capacity building for the movement not to die a natural death.

    “I am also of the view that an important area to consider as part of labour’s greater focus of development issues, should be human capacity building. This area is critical to the extent that it maps around all possible strategic and operational goals of trade unions”, he said.

    On why training should be a principal focus of labour at this time, Ajaero said: “I would like to answer by reiterating the substantive institutional context, which define human capacity building as the third transition phase of labour and development history.

    “This phase has several correlates that appear to render the trade union and its members vulnerable. And such features as casualisation, downsizing and outsourcing are common with this phase, which encompasses issue such as human capacity development that has consequences for the union, its members, the organisation and the country.”