The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Workers petition Presidency over oil firms’ operations

    Workers petition Presidency over oil firms’ operations

    Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) has petitioned the Presidency over activities of some oil and shipping companies, resulting in the loss of revenue to the nation, as well as the union.

    In the petition routed through the Minister of Transport, it named Shell Petroleun Development Company, Pacific Drilling, Noble Drilling, Trans Ocean Sedes Forex, Red Transport and Megatop Nigeria, among the culprits.

    The petition, signed by the President-General and Secretary-General, Comrades Tony Nted and Aham Ubani, called on government to call the affected companies to order failing which the union would shut down the maritime sector.

    The petition reads in part: “We have observed with pain and disbelief the open show of impunity by some seeming powerful agents, Shipping Companies and multinationals, which specialise in anchoring and operating their vessels off-shore/midstream in naked contravention of the given conditions governing off-shore/midstream operations in our territorial waters.

    “All ships/vessels are expected to berth and operate at the conventional Sea Ports, at the hard Quays. In very exceptional cases however, ships/vessels that cannot berth at the conventional ports for declared reasons, must as of law, obtain the direct approval of the Minister of Transport; pay all statutory NPA dues and stevedoring bills; must ensure the presence of Customs, Navy, relevant Security Agencies at the point of operations to ensure that the State Security is not compromised, and the Stevedoring Companies notified for supply of the appropriate labour force – the registered Dockworkers for the operations.”

    It alleged that some of these companies operate off-shore/midstream without the mandatory approval of the Minister of Transport. They have also refused to pay the statutory NPA charges and stevedoring bills, thereby giving rise to loss of employment to Dockworkers and loss of revenue to the Government.

    “It is disheartening to note that while hiding under the cover of challenging the enforcement of these approved conditions in the Law Courts against NPA management, the Companies have not relented in perpetuating these illegal acts that encourage revenue leakages, non-payment of NPA statutory Port Charges, NIMASA levies, under-declaration of tonnage, stevedoring bills and loss/denial of gainful employment to Dockworkers, among others.”

    “These companies for example, are Pacific Drilling, Noble Drilling, Trans Ocean Sedes Forex, Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria, Red Transport and Megatop Nigeria and host of others. We therefore call on the Federal Government as a matter of urgency to investigate closely, the activities of these defiant Off-Shore operators and put a stop to illegal off-shore operations.

    “We as an Industrial Union, whose members – the Dockworkers daily lament the loss/denial of income ,by such dubious Off-Shore Operations, wish to alert the nation that the continued failure to restore sanity and appropriate discipline in future Off-Shore/midstream Operations will attract total withdrawal of the services of our members from all the conventional Sea Ports. We have shown enough restraint on this issue and can no longer accommodate any further breach.”

  • Unemployment, layoffs down in Singapore

    Unemployment, layoffs down in Singapore

    Unemployment in Singapore declined in the second quarter of this year, reversing the slight increase a quarter ago, according to the Ministry of Manpower (MOM).
    The ministry attributed the drop in unemployment to more jobs being created in the second quarter, while layoffs eased for the second successive quarter.

    These were the key findings from the “Labour Market, Second Quarter 2012” report released by the Ministry of Manpower’s Research and Statistics Department on Friday.
    Total employment grew by 31,700 in the second quarter, higher than the gains of 24,800 in the same period last year and 27,200 in the first quarter of 2012.

    Cumulatively, employment rose by 58,900 in the first half of 2012, compared with the increase of 53,100 in the corresponding period of 2011.
    Services contributed 17,300 jobs, the majority of employment gains in the second quarter of 2012. But the figure was lower than the same period last year where there was a gain of 19,300 jobs in the services industry.

    For the seventh successive quarter, growth in construction workforce accelerated, supported by public infrastructure projects.
    In manufacturing, employment grew by 4,700, as gains led by petroleum, chemical and pharmaceutical sectors outnumbered the declines in the electronic, computer and optical products sectors.

    MOM said amid the strong employment creation, unemployment declined over the second quarter, after the slight rise in the first quarter.
    The seasonally adjusted overall unemployment rate dipped over the quarter by 0.1 per cent point to 2.0 per cent in June, erasing the increase in March.
    The jobless rate for residents and citizens declined by 0.2 per cent point to 2.8 per cent and 3.0 per cent respectively.

  • Labour market defies economic slump

    THE LABOUR market in the UK continued to recover strongly in the three months to July/August, despite the double dip recession, the Office for National Statistics revealed on Friday.

    Employment rose 236,000 in May to July, compared to the February to April period, putting the total at 29.56m, just 11,000 below its all-time peak in early 2008.
    The unemployment picture also improved, edging down 7,000 during May to July on the labour force survey measure, and slipping 15,000 on the claimant count measure for August, also released.

    Big increases in population, and 181,000 fewer economically inactive individuals aged 16-64 compared to the previous three months – the largest decrease since records began in 1977 – account for the fact unemployment is basically flat despite rapid job growth.

    Of the close to a quarter of million gaining jobs, 102,000 were full-time employees, and 134,000 part-time. Self-employment hit a new all-time high at 4.2m, with 52,000 extra people officially working for themselves.

    The rise in jobs has not come from ministerial fiat. Excluding the reclassification of institutions providing further and higher education, the public sector shed 39,000 staff in the second quarter, while the private sector increased employment by 275,000. Although this data is one month in arrears compared to the rest of the data, it fits in well with the overall trend.

    But some analysts said that the employment picture was too good to last in such a gloomy overall economic climate. “The economy would have to be growing in excess of trend rates to sustain these levels of job creation, so we must expect some payback in the form of falling employment levels in the months ahead,” said Andrew Goodwin at the Item Club.

    Average weekly earnings were just 1.4 per cent up in the three months to July, compared to the year before, despite consumer prices going up 2.6 per cent, meaning workers took a real wage cut. The upshot of a real wage cut is that workers look more attractive to employers, potentially helping to explain the employment boost.