The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Labour, others to tackle HIV, AIDS pandemic

    Labour, others to tackle HIV, AIDS pandemic

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Canadian Labour Congress, International Confederation of Trade Union/Africa, and the Federal Government have signed an agreement to reduce the HIV/AIDS pandemic in the workplace.

    He trade deal, a recommendation 200 of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which has a tripartite process for determining the scope and terms of reference of the national assessment, would support framework for complying with the only global standard on HIV and AIDS in the workplace.

    Addressing newsmen on the importance of the agreement to trade unions in Nigeria, Acting General Secretary, NLC, Comrade Chris Uyot, welcomed it, saying it is one that could have lasting impact on the lives of Nigerian workers and their families.

    He said: “Discussions are now underway with funding agencies to support the initiative, which will identify gaps in making the country’s workplaces stronger instruments of change for addressing the pandemic through joint union/employer actions”.

    According to Uyot, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity will drive the tripartite process with the involvement of the Federal Ministry of Health with support from the ILO, ILOAIDS and UNAIDS.

    “Employers will be represented by the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and the Nigerian Business Coalition against AIDS (NIBUCA). The process was also welcomed by the National Agency for the Control of AIDS (NACA).

    “R200 promotes inclusive dialogue between the three Nigerian players and deals also with the underpinnings of HIV and AIDS, including human rights, stigma and discrimination, inequality and gender issues,” he said.

  • ILO to eliminate forced labour, trafficking

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has adopted a new legally binding protocol designed to strengthen global efforts to eliminate forced labour. The protocol, supported by a recommendation, was adopted by government, employer and worker delegates to the International Labour Conference (ILC) with 437 votes for 27 abstentions and eight against.

    Speaking at the adoption ceremony, the ILO’s Director-General, Guy Ryder said: “The protocol and recommendation mark a major step forward in the fight against forced labour and represent a firm commitment among governments, employer and worker organizations to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery.

    “This Protocol on forced Labour aims to advance prevention, protection and compensation measures, as well as to intensify efforts to eliminate contemporary forms of slavery.”

    According to Ryder, forced labour violates the human rights and dignity of millions of women and men, girls and boys. “Forced labour violates the human rights and dignity of millions of women and men, girls and boys. It contributes to the perpetuation of poverty and stands in the way of the achievement of decent work for all. “There are currently an estimated 21 million forced labour victims worldwide”, he said.

    He emphasised that the Protocol strengthens the international legal framework by creating new obligations to prevent forced labour, to protect victims and to provide access to remedy, such as compensation for material and physical harm.

    “It requires governments to take measures to better protect workers, in particular migrant labourers from fraudulent and abusive recruitment practices and emphasizes the role of employers and workers in the fight against forced labour”, he said.

    Also speaking, the President of the ILC Committee on Forced Labour, David Garner said: “The new instruments will complement and strengthen existing international law, in particular the United Nation (UN) protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. The committee had to decide whether to push for a legally binding Protocol supported by a recommendation or a recommendation on its own.”

    On the need for a legally binding instrument, Garner stressed that government, employer and committee members emphasised the vital role played by the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105) but concluded that gaps in their implementation called for additional measures.

    “The committee agreed on the need for a legally binding instrument that establishes a common framework for the 177 ILO member states that have ratified convention 29 as well as the eight countries that have not – to move towards the elimination of forced labour”, he said.

  • Don’t sell NIOMCO, Fed Govt urged

    The Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSSAN) has urged the Federal Government not to sell the National Iron Ore Mining Company (NIOMCO) Limited, Itakpe in Kogi State.

    Speaking with reporters in Abuja, the Chairman of the association, Ibori Salihu, said staff members of NIOMCO were not comfortable with the proposed sale. According to him, selling the company to Global Infrastructure Nigeria Limited (GINL) as planned will hamper the National Industrial Revolution Plan of the Federal Government.

    His words: “We have heard of the coming back of GINL and we are simply not comfortable with this development. Is Nigeria still ready for industrial revolution as promised by President Goodluck Jonathan during his visit to Nasarawa and Kogi States in 2011?

    Salihu said GINL has nothing to offer Nigeria and NIOMCO. He appealed to the Federal Government to complete the rehabilitation of all the plants in NIOMCO before handing  over to any investor with good track record.

    He urged the government to capture steel companies in its intervention fund to accelerate the completion of their rehabilitation to guarantee maximum utilisation.

    The chairman of the association also appealed to the Federal Government to support the move of NIOMCO to achieve its mandate.

    Salihu commended the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Musa Sada, for the development of the roadmap for metals and solid minerals.

    Recently, the Federal Government cancelled its contract with GINL in respect of NIOMCO.

    The Federal Government said GNIL was unable to meet the terms of the agreement in respect of NIOMCO.

  • Head of Service harps on training

    The Head of Service of the Federation (HOSF) Alhaji Bukar Aji has expressed Federal Government’s determination to reposition the public service to deliver world-class service to the people of the country.

    Aji spoke while opening the meeting of the experts committee on the implementation of the Cooperation Agreement on Civil Service between Nigeria and Niger Republic in Abuja.

    He said the transformation reform in the service was one of the initiatives to actualise President Goodluck Jonathan administration’s desire for rapid socio-economic development of the country.

    He said much of the programmes of the government on power, infrastructure, structure of government, judiciary and security, among others, which are being driven by the public service requires extensive capacity building of the personnel.

    On the Nigeria-Niger Cooperation Agreement, he said: “This forum strengthens the relationship that exists between the two countries culturally, socially, and economically.”

    The Director-General of Niger Civil Service, Mounmini Djibiji said the forum has provided the two nations avenue to share experiences for the development of their respective civil services.

  • ‘Embrace health legislation’

    General Secretary of the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN), Comrade Marcus Omokhuale, has called on world leaders to embrace and implement the Legislation on Occupational Safety and Health (LEGOSH) as an essential component of national systems and programmes to protect the health and safety of workers.

    Last week, International Labour Organisation (ILO) developed LEGOSH as the first global source of authoritative information on national Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) database legislation to support the improvement of national systems and programmes.

    Omokhuale, addressed  journalists on how LEGOSH platform would boost the instruments supporting the main provisions in OSH legislation at the ongoing International Labour Conference (ILC), organised by the ILO in Geneva, Switzerland.

    “The LEGOSH database when fully implemented would assist governments, employers’ and workers’ organisations, agencies and experts, policy-makers and legislators to understand, shape, formulate and adopt sound OSH legislation that can be applied effectively to protect the safety and health of workers. It acts as a free source of trustworthy legal information available to constituents, researchers, and other stakeholders,” he said.

    According to Omokhuale, the new development of the LEGOSH platform emerged from the need to formulate a set of descriptors for collecting data on the basis of relevant ILO standards.

    “This policy is important because the ILO, in its efforts to support the development of national OSH systems, has developed and launched LEGOSH, an innovative database to collect, analyse, describe and share essential knowledge on OSH legislation and policy around the world,” he said.

    He argued that the OSH legislation is often described as a complex mosaic of legal provisions found primarily in labour law, public health and industry specific legislation as well as specifies a range of rights, obligations and duties applicable to workers and employers.

    “There is urgent need for the world leaders to embrace the policy as it would provide authoritative information on OSH legislation to support policy development and improve national systems and programmes.

    “The options for participatory data collection, review and update that are building on the ILO worldwide field structure and international networks, as well as on the knowledge of national experts, were tested with LEGOSH with the aim of ensuring adequate and relevant content while establishing the conditions for its sustainability,” he said.

  • NLC pickets Port Harcourt Disco offices

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has continued its picketing of the facilities of the Port Harcourt Electricity Distribution Company (PHEDC) offices in the South-south geo-political zone of the country, following the sealing off of the Uyo Business Centre in the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    The umbrella body of workers in the country had embarked on the same exercise in some other states in the region with the latest being Akwa Ibom State.

    The state chairman of the NLC, Comrade Unyime Usoro, said the decision to picket the office was informed by sundry issues, which other regions especially in the northern part of the country have implemented.

    Issues or complains raised by the NLC against the PHEDC include the non-payment of severance benefits to disengaged workers, arbitrary billing of customers, removal of Akwa Ibom indigenes from management positions and an anti-union posture.

    Usoro said the new company from the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) was yet to pay terminal benefits to all disengaged workers of the company. He also accused the PHEDC of staff casualisation as well as the non-payment of leave benefits.

    “Over 20 per cent of the disengaged workers of PHCN are yet to be paid terminal benefits,” he said, stressing that the NLC decided to picket the company to protest the unacceptable policy of engaging workers on casual basis.

    The state NLC boss stressed that the closure of the company in the state would continue until the management of the company dialogued with the union on the enumerated contentious issues.

    However, the Manager of the Uyo Business Centre, Mr. Reginald Madu, decried the mode of operation of the union, saying he was almost lynched by the aggrieved union members.

    He said: “I don’t know anything about it, no prior information, the NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) members of the electricity union descended on me and locked up the place, I managed to escape death.”

  • MoU will boost manpower, says Wogu

    The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu has declared that the Memorandum of Undestanding (MoU) between Michael Imoudu National Institute for Labour Studies (MINILS) and the International Training Center (ITC), Turin, Italy,  will set new rules of cooperation between the two institutions, as well as  boost the manpower needs of Nigeria.

    Wogu made the declaration during the signing ceremony between MINILS and ITC that was meant to provide a framework of operational collaborative activities between the two institutions in exploration of opportunities for jointly extending learning services provided by both institutions.

    The Labour and Productivity Minister, who was represented at the ceremony by the Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, Dr. Clement Illo, stated that the official signing pact was the climax of discussions which began last year.

    He said:”The new pact would in no small measure contribute to the Federal Government’s transformational agenda of the President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.”

  • Judiciary workers shelve planned strike

    The Judicial Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) has suspended its planned strike over the non-implementation of the court order on financial autonomy for the judiciary.

    It issued the ultimatum last month in a communiqué jointly signed by its President, Comrade Marwan Mustapha and General Secretary, Isaiah Adetola, after its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja.

    Speaking with reporters, JUSUN’s Publicity Secretary Kayode Igbarago said the planned strike was called off following an invitation to a meeting with the Accountant General of the Federation.

    “The meeting will also include the accountant generals of the 36 states. So we decided that there is no point embarking on a strike and be discussing from the outside,” he said.

    In 2012, JUSUN challenged 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.

    On January 13, Justice Adeniyi Ademola of a Federal High Court in Abuja in a suit by JUSUN ruled that the Federal Government and the 36 states are breaching the Constitution as regards judicial funding, adding that the executive should act decisively to avert a constitutional crisis.”

  • Subsidise power, PENGASSAN urges govt

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has urged labour unions to mount pressure on the Federal Government to subsidise power, rail transportation, healthcare and education.

    Its President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said in Lagos that subsidising these key sectors would engender real growth.

    He said: “Power is the bedrock of any country’s development and with regular power supply, the small and medium scale and the informal sector of the economy can grow.

    “Instead of erratic and epileptic power supply and the irrational hike in electricity charges, labour should channel their protest and struggles to ensure that this important sector that can jumpstart and grow the economy is subsidised.

    “Also, rail transportation can alleviate the suffering of the masses and reduce congestion on our roads. Rail is a veritable means of mass transportation in the developed countries. The nation’s healthcare and educational system are in sorry state and the government can subsidize these all important sectors to the benefit of the Nigerian masses.”

    Ogun advised other trade unions to stop supporting payment of subsidy on petroleum products.

    The payment of subsidy on petroleum products, especially Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), otherwise known as petrol, he said was not to the advantage of the masses.

    According to him, subsidy only benefits few individuals who have constituted themselves into a cabal.

    “It is high time labour stopped saying no to the removal of subsidy and look beyond ordinary reasoning to support the government against a policy and process that has been bleeding the country’s revenue as well as stunting the growth of the nation’s downstream sector of the oil and gas industry.

    “The money being used in payment of subsidy to these few individuals who are enriching themselves at the expense of the entire Nigerians can be channelled towards other developmental projects, especially the nation’s ailing and dilapidated infrastructures,” he said.

    He urged the government to encourage the establishment of refineries to be run in partnership or as a Joint Venture (JV) with private investors so that Nigeria can be producing to meet its local demand and create employment.

  • BATN has created over 500,000 jobs, says director

    The British American Tobacco Nigeria (BATN), has created of over 500,000 direct and indirect jobs, according to its the Director of Corporate and Regulatory Affairs in West Africa, Fredick Messanvi.

    He told reporters in Lagos that BATN is also training and retraining its over 600 farmers.

    On the law passed by the Lagos State House of Assembly on tobacco regulation, which takes effect from August 17, Messanvi said: “The BATN is known to have opposed strict regulation of tobacco business and smoking culture in Nigeria for decades. What we want is that it must be enforced in a just manner as this is the only way it can achieve its intent.”

    BATN Head of Corporate Unit, Mrs. Oluwasoromidayo George, said the interactive forum was necestary to enable Nigerians, know the role the company is playing in boosting the economy.

    “As a nice story is always well told by the person that knows its roots, we bring in journalists today to know more about BATN to enable you tell the general public about who we are and what we do. There have been calls for regulation with stringent laws backing up the regulation.

    “We are not against regulation of cigarette or tobacco, in fact, we were the first to mute that regulation because we don’t want it to sound as if we are forcing people into smoking, no, we want smoking to be controlled. What we want is full improved regulation, we want well coordinated control so that enforcement of the ban of smoking in some selected places will be restricted only to such places as specified by the law,” she said.