The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Union condemns planned NRC concession

    The Senior Staff Association of Statutory Corporations and Government Owned Companies (SSASCGOC) has faulted the Federal Government’s  plan to concession the Nigerian Railway Corporation.

    Its President-General, Comrade Mohammed Yunusa, said the planned concession would lead to workers losing their jobs. He noted that the workers contributed immensely to the glorious performance of the rail sector, until it had problems in 1984, due to successive administrations’ failures to manage it well.

    He said: “Nobody should attempt to discredit staff of the NRC just because of the failure of successive governments and its managers in NRC. To this end, we make bold to say that we shall resist any form of reform aimed at discrediting and sending staff of NRC into the labour market, under whatever guise be it concession, franchising or public private partnership.”

    Yunusa said the union, with its large membership, would resist any concessioning that would lead to job loss either in the Nigerian Railway Corporation or any or other public corporation in Nigeria.

    “The government has business in business, especially when it is social-oriented and, therefore, the government should situp with SSASCGOC and its allies so that we can come up with workable solutions for the rail to roll into glory,” he said.

  • PENGASSAN calls for speedy passage of bills

    The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has called on the National Assembly to expedite action on the Petroleum Industry Administration, Petroleum Industry Fiscal and Petroleum Host Community Bills in order to realise the benefits of the intended oil and gas reforms.

    In a message by its President, Comrade Francis Olabode Johnson, PENGASSAN said the passage of the bills would revolutionise the sector.

    Hailing the lawmakers for the passage of the first part of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), known as the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), he said: “We must all stand against contract and casual employment as well as off-shoring of jobs, which is tactically and steadily taking over permanent employment and increasing in Nigeria while most jobs that domicile in Nigeria are done outside the country.

    “The government should step up security of lives as well as oil and gas infrastructure, curb pipeline vandalism and the attendant crude oil and petroleum products theft, ensure optimal functioning of the refineries to increase local refining, provide investment-friendly environment for private investors in the downstream sector to encourage investment and drive down job losses in the oil and gas operations in the country.

    “We are, therefore, reiterating our call for a stakeholders’ forum for the purpose of holistically examining the challenges confronting the nation’s oil and gas industry and proffer solutions to the problems.”

    In a related event, PENGASSAN has called on the Federal and Rivers State governments to end illegal refineries causing soot in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.

    According to the union, the soot, in the form of thick black smoke which covers the entire Port Harcourt city, could be the cause of some of the respiratory problems being experienced by inhabitants of the city.

    In a statement by the PENGASSAN National Public Relations Officer, Mr. Fortune Obi, the association said the soot was not getting any serious attention because most of the people affected were still performing their daily tasks while they swim in this soot that has been confirmed by experts to be carcinogenic.

    “The black soot settles on everything and finds its way into the corners of living rooms no matter how hard people try to stop it. Food items in Port Harcourt markets are as well not spared from getting mixed with this deadly soot that is ever present everywhere,” he stated.

    Obi said PENGASSAN in collaboration with other concerned bodies and citizens had created awareness to call the attention of the government to act swiftly and put an end  the source of the killer soot.

  • NSITF to enforce workers compensation policy

    The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) is to embark on aggressive enforcement of the Employees Compensation Scheme (ECS).

    Its Managing Director, Adebayo Somefun, made this known at an induction for the Fund’s staff members in Ibadan region.

    Somefun urged workers to redouble their efforts to ensure the success of the scheme, describing the ECS as a scheme which puts smiles on the faces of employees that sustain injuries in the course of their work.

    “There was a need to be diligent about enforcement to ensure that employers key into the desires of the scheme,” he said.

    Somefun explained that before the advent of the ECS, workers were left on their own when they sustain injury in the workplace.

    He, however, said with the coming of ECS, workers now give their best knowing that when they sustain injury, there is a scheme that will take the burden off them.

    “That is why in the last seven years since this scheme began, there has been steady rise in workers’ productivity because workers now execute their tasks without holding back or afraid of injury. Not only that, the ECS also takes care of the families of workers that die in the course of work,” he added.

    Somefun, however, said the aggressive enforcement of the ECS was not to intimidate organisations, but to make them comply with the provisions of the law.

    “The ECS is a product of the law. The law specified that every organisation must make provision for the safety of its workers.

    The ECS is a one-stop-shop for workers’ safety in the workplace because not just that NSITF sits and wait till accident happens before it acts; we provide safety guidelines that reduce risks at the workplace.

    “NSITF exposes organisations to simple and cost effective safety steps that can reduce accidents in the workplace,” he explained.

  • NUP demands N40,000 minimum pension

    As the tripartite committee on National Minimum Wage holds public hearing across the six geo-political zones of the country, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has demanded N40,000 monthly minimum pension for pensioners.

    The NUP made its demand also as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) called for the removal of salary disparity between civil servants in the core government ministries and their counterparts in government agencies and parastatals.

    In a memorandum presented to the National Minimum Wage Committee, at the public hearing held in Abuja, the NUP Deputy National President, Alhaji Musa Aliyu, said the agitation for minimum pension alongside minimum wage has been going on since the inception of the union in 1978.

    This,  according to him, was to correct the ugly situation whereby some pensioners, particularly at state level, earn as low as N2, 000 monthly.

    He pointed out that there has never been any genuine attempt by the government to determine a for pensioners.

    In his presentation, the FCT Minister, who was represented by the Director, Human Resource Management, Hajia Amina Abubakar, said: “There is the need for the committee to consider recommending the implementation of a salary structure relativity among all Federal Government establishment”

  • Agbakoba to workers: be involved in politics

    Human rights activist and co-founder, National Intervention Movement (NIM), Olisa Agbakoba (SAN), has urged the labour movement to strategise, unite and chart a common course that will ensure Nigerians enjoy democratic dividend.

    He said this was the only way the labour movement could be relevant in the 2019 elections.

    Agbakoba, who spoke at the Pre-May Day lecture organised by the United Labour Congress (ULC) in Lagos, with the theme: “Quest for a vibrant democracy: 2019 in focus”, said the organised labour should not allow the mistake of the past where a democratic process was started and abandoned to repeat itself.

    He said without a strong labour union, it would be difficult to achieve a change when discussing democratic rule. ‘’Labour movement is important in any country. I will advice you to take charge of the democratic space and make it vibrant. But we cannot have a divided labour movement. So, you must strategise,’’ Agbakoba said.

    He said it was high time the labour union took its rightful position in the polity, saying that the era of leaving it in the hands of the few was over.

    He advised the union to collaborate with other groups that share the same vision with them.

    “The strategy you should adopt as 2019 election is coming is to be on the side of the people.

    “You yourself can take power if you have the numbers. You must motivate people. You must collaborate with groups that have the same vision with you. You need to have strong affiliates. That is for betterment of Nigerian.

    “You can actively support a political party that has the same vision with you or you take a political party,” Agbakoba admonished, expressing concern about the quality of leadership in Nigeria. He added that corruption is endemic, while poverty is high.

    The senior lawyer further said the labour movement needed the media to have a vibrant democracy as well as work with relevant stakeholders.

    ULC President Mr. Joe Ajaero reiterated the need to increase the national minimum wage for workers to cater for their families’ welfare.

    Ajaero, however, pointed out that the wage increase should not be delayed because there was no provision in the 2018 budget.

    Speaking further, Ajaero said there was no proof that the country was out of recession.

    “Please don’t let anybody deceive you that the country is out of recession. Inflation is still very high. The cost of transportation, house rent, food stuff are still very high and somebody is telling us we out of recession

    “Life expectancy is low. Nigeria ranks poorly on all international human development indicators,” Ajaero said.

    However, a member of the Nigeria Intervention Movement, Ms Elishama Ideh, called for the inclusion of women in politics to bridge the huge gender gap.

    Ms Ideh said women should be given the opportunity to play active roles in the development of the economy.

    In a related event, the ULC has insisted on N96,000 as the irreducible minimum wage, saying that the union had submitted its position to the committee.

    Ajaero urged the government to expedite action so that the report of the committee could be submitted.

    “Nigerian workers have suffered too much and we hope that the wage floor eventually agreed will lift Nigerians out of poverty and make life better. Government should not play politics with this.

    “However, ULC calls all Nigerians to be vigilant as we negotiate this process. We did not get to this level by charity but by struggle. We can only conclude it favourably by being ready at all times to defeat the forces of wickedness that would not want Nigerian workers to earn decent wages,” Ajaero said.

    He said the economy was on the reverse gear and all known indices that drive the economic growth were tending downwards.

    The labour leader said the most frightening was that those saddled with the challenge of managing the economy were at best displaying wrong thought patterns.

    “They clearly lack not just direction of where they want to take the economic to, but also churn out policies that are at cross purpose with their perceived or intended objectives.

    “What has kept baffling us is that while they kept on beating their chest about exiting recession, growing our foreign reserve, keeping inflation steady at 16.5 per cent, and stabilising the naira exchange rate at N360 to $1, the life and living conditions of Nigerians keep deteriorating.

    “Mass deprivations and increased sufferings remain the lot of the Nigerian people with poverty walking our streets and highways,” Ajaero said.

    He said the reality on ground is that there is no correlation between what is being said on paper and in the news media and what is happening to Nigerian people in the street and at homes.

    Ajaero said any economic programme or policy that does not impact positively on the lives of the people makes no sense at all.

    He added that the ultimate barometer for measuring the achievement of any government is the extent to which the lives of the people have been impacted by its policies and actions.

  • We are concerned about 16m jobless graduates, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed its displeasure over 16 million unemployed graduates and about 12 million children out of school.

    The union called on President Muhammadu Buhari to safeguard the future of Nigerians and protect them from being tagged “youth sitting down and waiting for freebies”.

    University of Ibadan ASUU Chairman Dr. Deji Omole, who stated this in a chat with reporters, added that it became imperative for the Federal Government to be reminded that the future of the children of the masses must not be used to play politics.

    Recalling that the government had raised the hopes of declaring emergency in the education sector in April, this year, apparently to proffer solutions to the low quality of education being offered Nigerian children, he wondered why in this last week of April, the plan to declare an emergency in the sector had not been perfected.

    Omole said: “We are sad for a government that fails to improve access to education for teeming millions of youth yearning for education to state that the same youth are sitting down and waiting for freebies.

    “What has the government done to salvage the condition of 12 million out of school children in Nigeria? What has the government done to ensure employment for over 16 million unemployed Nigerians?

    “What plan does the government have for graduates who go through the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) every year but frustrated by lack of job and hostile environment to even start a small and medium scale business? If the government fails to attend to the needs of the youth today, they will become nightmares for Nigeria in the future.”

  • Local Content: Firm spends N200m on training

    TO boost the Local Content Act and encourage participation of more Nigerians in the oil and gas sector, through human capacity development, West African Ventures (WAV) has spent over $550,000 (about N200 million), to train 26 young Nigerians.

    WAV is an engineering, procurement,installation and marine charter services provider for the oil and gas industry.

    The firm’s training was in partnership with Chevron and the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), under the Sonam Development Project Pipeline and Okan Pig Receiver Platform Transport and installation contract (SONAM/NC HCD).

    The training was an intensive 20-month activity, from August 2016 to April 2018 and was designed to achieve competence building (classroom training) as well as on the job training in order to raise the capacity of young Nigerians intending to work in the oil and gas industry.

    At the graduation ceremony held in Lagos, during the week, WAV Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Michael Amaeshike, said the categories of professionals considered included graduates, artisans, and of course, tutors selected in line with the requirement of the NCDMB human capacity development guidelines.

    Amaeshike said the training was also set up in partial fulfilment of the requirement of the Nigerian Oil and Gas Industry Content Development (NOGICD) Act 2010, which demands provision of an additional human resources capacity development for some categories of Nigerians outside the contractor personnel in the course of executing a major project.

    He said WAV decided to train the lucky participants because it believes in retaining value in the country since the future of the sector lies in the hands of Nigerians who are attuned to development.

    NCDMB Executive Secretary, Mr. Simbi Wabote, said the training marks a water-shed in the delivery of NCDMB’s mandate. He praised WAV and Chevron for providing a platform for the training and development of young Nigerians.

    Wabote, who was represented by the HCD Manager, Maurice Iwhiwhu, noted that the training will go a long way in creating a sustainable industry.

    He affirmed that the competence of all trainees was assessed quarterly at the close of training using the various NCDMB assessment evaluation sheets and were also carried out in agreement with client representative, Chevron, and the representative of the Board.

    The Company Secretary/Nigerian Content Development Manager of West African Ventures, Mr. Stanly Onuosa, said retaining local value informed the company’s decision to retain two out of the professionals who automatically gained full employment with WAV after their closeout, while one among the artisans had been retained by the training school, Glassfa Continental Limited.

    Of the 26 trainees, 18 were professionals with the breakdown thus; four trained in cost control, two in document control, four trained in HSE, two in construction, two in engineering and four in QAQC, with the remaining eight trained under the artisans’ category as welders.

    WAV General Manager, Com-mercial and Sales, Mr. Edmund Ejiogu, said they decided to equip the country with professionals that could hold their own anywhere they find themselves despite the economic situation of the country.

    He said this was so given the company’s belief  in the ability of Nigerians to occupy the com-manding heights of the oil and gas industry.

    Ejiogu said the company was not satisfied being the pioneer and the best in the provision of logistics services to the oil and gas sector in the country, but also wants to have a stake in the development of the future of the sector in the country and Africa as a whole.

    A trainee, Temilade Adeoye, who was trained on cost control, on her reflection about the human capacity development project, could not hide her joy upon completing the training. She said it opened her to more knowledge acquisition that will be helpful in her future endeavours.

    WAV Nigerian Content Development (NCD) Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Chiemejonam, appreciated the trainees during the pro-gramme for being conscious of what was expected of them. He said despite the challenges involved, they still comported themselves reasonably.

    The programme, which was held in Lagos, Warri and on offshore facilities, was initiated as an opportunity for skills acquisition, on-the-job training and project management and is one of the conduits for replenishing the talent stock of the oil and gas industry.

    Its major thrust was the need for skills and technology transfer to locals so that they can take their rightful place in the management of the country’s oil and gas industry.

  • ‘Nigeria can attract investments by exporting skills’

    The Industrial Training Fund (ITF) has described the skills gap in the country as a serious problem, saying the country could attract huge foreign investments by exporting skills.

    Speaking at the ITF 50th Human Resources Development Series in Lagos, its Director-General, Mr. Joseph Ari, stressed the need for the collaboration of the federal, state and local governments and the private sector in a bid to bridge the skills gap and tackle the high unemployment rate in the country.

    Ari, represented by the Director Information and Communication Technology, Mr. Dickson Onuoha, said ITF had developed a blueprint known as the ‘ITF Reviewed Vision’ to actualise the Fund’s mandate.

    Citing statistics, he said by 2050, the nation’s population would grow to 500 million, adding, “That will mean that we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder unless something fast is done in developing the human capacity.”

    Ari, however, said conversely, if such human capital is developed, Nigeria can export skills to the rest of the world and thereby grow her Foreign Direct Investments (FDI). He said herein lies the critical role of the ITF.

    “You can imagine if we export skills, Nigerians will be everywhere in the world, and you can imagine the kind of investments that will come in here in foreign currencies. That will be huge. Oil will be in the second place with the kind of population we have,” the ITF DG said.

    According to him, the direction of the blueprint, which has been presented to the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, was in alignment with the Federal Government’s policy of social, economic diversification and industrialisation policy.

    Ari said the ITF also decided to work with the umbrella body of the organised private sector, the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) to get its buy-in and form a partnership that would be strategic for instilling skills in people.

  • ITUC seeks measures to protect workers’ rights

    Despite the International   Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) forecast that stronger economic growth will continue into next year, the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) has expressed deep concerns over developments in the global economy, calling for measures to protect workers’interest.

    The ITUC and its global unions partner organisations expressed the concerns in a statement.

    ITUC General Secretary, Sharan Burrow said: “The beginning of monetary tightening fiscal reforms that increase inequality, unilateral trade restrictions and attempts to roll back financial regulation introduced after the 2008 financial crisis could sow the seeds of the next global recession and severely harm the interests of working people.”

    The ITUC urges the international financial institutions to follow through on their commitments to support shared prosperity, inclusive growth and a reduction of inequality.

    This, according to ITUC, must include a strengthening, not weakening, of labour market institutions and an expansion of universal social protection.

    The ITUC said it welcomes the IMF’s intention to develop a new “institutional view” on social protection after a review and calls on the Fund to consult the ILO, trade unions and other organisations on any involvement in such reforms.

    The report puts forward a policy platform of highly deregulated labour markets, including reductions or eliminations of minimum wages, reduction of firms’ contributions to social security; and the narrow targeting of social assistance.

    Burrow added: “Instead of calling for the dismantling of vital protections for working people that will further increase inequality and destroy social harmony, the Bank should engage in consultations with the labour movement and other relevant organisations, and support an approach based on respect for workers’fundamental rights, comprehensive social protection and social dialogue.

    ‘Lastly, the ITUC welcomes the World Bank’s agreement to work with the government of Canada and the ITUC in support of a transition from coal in developing countries.’’

    Ms Burrow called for a rapid operationalisation of the joint programme.

    The ITUC represents 207 million members of 331 affiliates in 163 countries and territories.

  • NLC decries leaders’attitude to workers’plight

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has decried leaders’ attitude to workers’ plight. The plight of the poor and the downtrodden is never their concern, it said.

    The NLC made the claim through its National President, Mr. Ayuba Waba, when he paid a courtesy call on Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong, in Jos.

    “We have always directed workers to support every government, but some leaders make that impossible,” Wabba said.

    He accused many leaders of abandoning their workers, saying that the labourers’ fate was always the last in the leaders’ order of priorities.

    Waba, however, urged workers to always stand by the truth and give sincere advice to those in authority “without any fear”.

    “A cardinal principle of labour is to promote truth and good governance. Any leader that does the right thing should be supported by workers,” the labour leader said.

    Waba, who was in Jos to participate in a seminar organised by the National Civil Service Union, however, appreciated Lalong for putting smiles on workers and pensioners’ faces in Plateau State.

    “You have done excellently well. You are a shining example of how leadership should be. You have cleared the six months salary arrears you inherited and also cleared pension arrears.

    “You have started paying gratuities as well as monies withheld by your predecessors, who insisted on no-work-no-pay policy.

    “The NLC is also impressed with how you deployed the bailout and Paris Club funds received from the Federal Government and has always urged others to emulate your kindness,” he said.

    Lalong, in his remarks, thanked the NLC leadership for offering its counsel when he sought its advice on how best to make workers happy.

    He said Plateau workers are seen as part of government whose counsel and co-operation have been crucial to success in the last three years.

    The governor announced that he had approved the establishment of a workers’ estate, adding that work on it will kick off when the next tranche of Paris Club refund is received.

    He told the NLC President that he considered the payment of salaries as a moral obligation that must be kept.