The Nation Newspaper

Category: Labour

  • Tanker drivers take safety lessons

    AbouT 4,500 tanker drivers across the country have been undergoing training on safety on wheel.

    The five-week programme, organised by the national body, the Petroleum Tanker Drivers (PTD) arm of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), was meant to curb the high incidence of accidents involving tanker drivers on the highways.

    The programme  ran simultaneously in the four PTD designated zones, Lagos, Warri, Kaduna and Port Harcout.

    The Lagos zone, due to its position and population, had 1,500 drivers, the highest number in training, while other zones trained 1,000 each to bring the total to 4,500.

    At the commencement of the programme, the Lagos zonal secretary of NUPENG, Tokunbo Korodo, emphasised that it was primarily aimed at reducing the high rate of accidents associated with petroleum tanker drivers on the nation’s highway through orientation. Inaddition to equipping them with the latest information on safety while discharging their responsibilities.

    “This is the initiative of the national chairman, who also started his career as a driver, he believed that death on the road caused by tanker drivers could be reduced if they were enlightened on the safety standards of their jobs,” he said.

    National Chairman of the PTD, Salmon Oladiti, reflecting on the reason for the training, at the closing ceremony, lamented the incessant accidents associated with tanker drivers across the country and its effects on life and property.

    He said: “I always shed tears anytime there is tanker accident; I always find it difficult to sleep as well, because of the loss of lives and property that will definitely be involved.

    “Tanker accident always results in economic loss as well as loss of lives.

     

     

     

  • Labour kicks against plan to sack 3,500 workers

    The  Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) has condemned the Federal Government’s plan to sack 3,500 public servants under the guise of  illegal appointment.

    Its Secretary-General, Comrade Alade Lawal, expressed shock that the Federal Government wanted to send 3,500 employees to the labour market at a time when millions of Nigerians were dying of starvation because of the harsh economic conditions imposed on them by bad policies.

    ”The greatest tragedy of this insensitive planned retrenchment is that the association has already taken the government to court on this matter and the least we expect in a normal democratic society is for the government to allow the court process to be pursued to its logical conclusion and in the interim maintain the  status quo ante on the matter.

    “It must be emphasised that if citizens begin to disrespect the judicial process and resort to self-help as this government has been doing, sooner or later, the entire society will be engulfed in anarchy,” the Lawal stated.

    According to the group, when it got wind that the Federal Government had concluded plans to sack about 6,000 workers because they were alleged to have been illegally recruited by the last administration, the association filed a suit at the National Industrial Court (NIC) to forestall the move.

    It added that the case in suit No. NICN/459/2016 filed by the ASCSN at the NIC, Abuja, against the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation came up for hearing on February 1 and was adjourned.

    It said even if the workers were recruited from certain part of the country, what the government should do was to employ people from the other part so as to balance the imbalance instead of throwing 6,000 helpless workers into the job market.

    The ASCSN regretted that a government that came to power promising to create millions of jobs had been preoccupied with devising all forms of trickery to indulge in mass sack of Nigerian workers.

  • Maritime workers protest bad roads

    Maritime workers protest bad roads

    Workers in the maritime sector have called for the immediate rehabilitation of roads leading to Apapa Port to save businesses from total collapse.

    The workers, under the auspices of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN), dressed in white shirts and trousers, staged a protest at the first gate leading to the port, with placards to express their displeasure in solidarity with their outgoing President, Mr Anthony Nted.

    Some of the placards read: “Our leaders are accountable and transparent’’. “We pass vote of confidence on our leaders” and “No fracas, no friction, we are one union”.

    The workers advised the Federal Government to encourage terminal operators to repair the roads leading into the ports and provide tools for their jobs.

    A dockworker, Mr Samuel Golden, said lack of access to the port and non-functional equipment were  major hindrances to them.

    He said: “One of the workers was killed in 2016 on a commercial motorcycle when the driver of a trailer was trying to make a turn. If the road was good, the accident would not have happened.

    “We need tools to do our jobs efficiently, the beam is not working well  and we need replacement of some of the equipment.”

    Another worker, Mr Femi Adekoya, said workers at the port lacked sufficient protective gadgets to perform their duty.

    “We do our jobs without kits such as protective shoes and others that will help to guard a worker in case accident occurs,”  Adekoya lamented.

    However, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA) Chairman Mr Edward Okpoto, who spoke on Nted’s administration, praised him for ensuring that industrial crisis was no longer prevalent at the port.

    Okpoto said the outgoing president encouraged workers through training at the local and international levels.

    Also, Mr Adeleke Sanni, the NPA branch president, who read a solidarity and commendation letter for Nted, said the labour leader had passion for workers’ right.

    Sanni said the outgoing president maintained peace among the workers and trained 6,000, out of which 180 travelled to other parts of the country to enhance their skills.

    He said in spite of malicious accusations by some people in the sector, Nted brought credibility to dock workers and ensured that they had a good condition of service.

    Receiving the commendation letter in his office, Nted urged the workers to remain peaceful to boost productivity at the port.

    He said the forthcoming MWUN election would be free and fair as nobody had the right to impose any leader on the people.

  • NLC, TUC alert Fed Govt to new trade union

    NLC, TUC alert Fed Govt to new trade union

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have alerted  the Federal Government to the existence of a new labour union.

    Their letter dated January 19,  was signed by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Bobboi Kaigama.

    Titled: Need to avert anarchy in the industrial relations system in the country: Mushroom/Shell trade unions and addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, the two leaders  said they were constrained to bring the issue to the minister’s attention because of the damage the new union could cause to the labour movement.

    They said the new union’s  leaders, after failing in their bid to lead the NLC, following the successful conduct of the rescheduled election at the 10th delegates’ conference of the congress last March, set up the union.

    The letter reads in part: “Some of our colleagues have been making concerted efforts to destabilise the industrial relations space in the country. This started with the effort to fractionalise the NLC, which failed after almost two years of trying. In their desperation, they have now purported to float a new trade union centre with the name United Labour Congress of Nigeria. In the last couple of months, they have collected forms for the registration of dozens of some trade unions without membership.’’

    It said all the unions being wooed by the splinter faction are  adequately covered by existing unions.

    “One expects that people who operate at our level will know the relevant provisions of the Trade Union Act, but perhaps we are assuming too much. The Trade Union Act CAP T14, LFN, 2004, Section 3(2) provides thus: “But no trade union shall be registered to represent workers or employers in a place where there already exist a trade union,” the letter said.

  • SON to partner MSMEs on job creation

    SON to partner MSMEs on job creation

    The Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) is to partner Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to create jobs.

    Its Director-General, Mr.  Osita Aboloma, said this at an interactive session with freight forwarders and clearing agents in Kano.

    He hinged his support for MSMEs on their potential to create jobs, reduce crime rate and contribute to economic growth substantially.

    He said SON was investing in building the capacity of MSMEs, improving their quality control mechanisms and raising the quality profile of their products for improved competitiveness locally, as well as for export.

    Aboloma condemned any practice that promotes job creation for foreign manufacturers at the expense of local industries, stressing that preference for foreign goods meant boosting the economy of other countries at the detriment of local industries.

    He said Nigeria’s immense potential in human and material resources could be optimised with the deployment of standardisation procedures for quality assurance of products.

    He described quality assurance as a critical element of the standardisation process for the growth of any nation.

    Aboloma added that regular quality control, inspection, sampling, testing and certification of manufacturing processes ensured products met the requirements of relevant standards.

    “They also guarantee continual improvement to satisfy customer expectations,” he said.

    The SON chief said quality assurance had been a major driver of the agency’s standardisation campaigns.

    “As the apex standardisation agency, it is the duty of SON to ensure that consumers get value for money and are protected from the dangers of substandard products; that is why I urge Nigerians to get involved in the campaign. We need the collaboration of all Nigerians to do the job effectively,” he said.

    According to Aboloma, one of the  administration’s main agenda is promoting ease of doing business to facilitate trade the Federal Government’s efforts to focus on non-oil exports, with agriculture and MSMEs as key drivers.

    ”I invite you to further partner SON in our efforts toward trade and business facilitation to ensure Nigeria becomes a better place for all. The government is determined to create an enabling environment for business, thus, we should take up the challenge and let the change start with us as individuals and groups,” he added.

  •  NIPCo honours 25 worthy employees

     NIPCo honours 25 worthy employees

    Twenty-five employees of NIPCo Plc have been honoured for their long services. They had served the company for 10 years.

    NIPCo said the members demonstrated diligence and commitment for 10 years.

    Its Managing Director, Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy, said the company placed utmost value on the contribution of the workforce in its meteoric rise since it began operations in 2004.

    According to him, recognising the workers at the event was in appreciation of their long association  with the company. He dded that the management looked forward to their serving the company for more 20 years without breaking their service.

    Venkatapathy praised the resilience, perseverance and dedication of the awardees, especially given the tough operating environment in the sector. He added that the workers had always shown great sense of commitment to growing the company beyond its peers.

    He said a decade of service was a feat, which should not be taken for granted but a great lesson for younger workers to emulate and draw inspiration fromh.

    Advocating extra efforts to take the company to greater heights, Venkatapathy assured the workers of the management’s commitment to facilitating an enabling environment which would further create  an avenue for glorious service by employees.

    The Executive Director (Finance), Mr. Ramesh Virwani, praised the doggedness of the awardees, who have committed a decade of their lives to NIPCo, adding that their  contributions would be acknowledged at all times.

    The company’s Head of Human Resources, Mr. John Okpeku, said a similar event was held in 2014.

  • ILO to tackle abusive recruitment practices

    ILO to tackle abusive recruitment practices

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Gangmasters Licensing Authority (GLA), England have signed a letter of intent to strengthen their collaboration on tackling recruitment practices that trick workers into modern slavery and forced labour.

    ILO Director-General Guy Ryder, and GLA Chief Executive Paul Broadbent, signed the agreement in the presence of representatives of the Home Office, the Confederation of British Industry and the Trades Union Congress (TUC).

    The ILO and the GLA have been collaborating in the fight against fraudulent and abusive recruitment practices, forced labour and trafficking in persons over the past few years.

    In the framework of the Fair Recruitment Initiative led by the ILO, new general principles and guidelines for fair recruitment, were launched last September, and have been recognised as an a benchmark on how to address the issue.

    Rider said: “Tackling abusive recruitment practices is key to effectively preventing modern slavery and forced labour nationally and across borders. The GLA’s work has changed how the regulation and monitoring of labour recruiters is carried out in the UK. It is a model which can inspire other governments on how to implement the Fair Recruitment Principles and Guidelines.’’

    Following the adoption of the UK Immigration Act 2016, the GLA has been given new powers, including the possibility to investigate modern slavery offences related to labour exploitation, with increased powers of arrest, search and seizure of evidence of labour abuse.

    The GLA will investigate across the entire UK labour market, and not solely in the fresh goods and related processing and packaging sectors as before.

    “These extended powers will help us pursue our goal to protect vulnerable workers from being exploited in the UK,” said Paul Broadbent. “Strengthening our collaboration with the ILO will provide the opportunity to share the experience we have gained and contribute to training programmes and tools to increase reporting and identification of forced labour and abusive labour practices across supply chains.”

    Cooperation between the GLA and the ILO will also contribute to raising awareness on the Modern Slavery Act’s transparency provisions which require companies to ensure that human trafficking is not taking place in any of its supply chains. The ILO Protocol to the Forced Labour Convention also promotes due diligence by both the public and private sectors to prevent and respond to the risks of forced labour.

    “The fact that in today’s world there are still children, women and men in modern slavery, is an affront to all people and nations everywhere. We all have a role to play to eliminate it once and for all. Social partners are a central piece of the equation, together with other valuable partners such as the GLA,” said Ryder.

    Minister for Vulnerability, Safeguarding and Countering Extremism, Sarah Newton, said “The government is determined to eradicate modern slavery, it is a barbaric crime which destroys the lives of some of the most vulnerable in our society.

    “I welcome the commitment from these two organisations to combine their efforts, it sends a strong message to perpetrators that we will not tolerate any form of exploitation.

    “The government has extended the remit and strengthened the powers of the GLA to prevent, detect and investigate worker exploitation across the entire economy. We have also appointed Sir David Metcalf as the first Director of Labour Market Enforcement to oversee a government crackdown on exploitation in the workplace.”

  • Centre seeks increased funding

    National Productivity Centre Director-General Kashim Akor has called for increased funding of the centre to make  it actualise its mandate of promoting socio-economic growth and development through productivity improvement.

    He spoke while addressing members of the House of Representatives Committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity, who were on an oversight visit to the centre.

    Akor said the budgetary allocation was inadequate in view of the mandate, programmes and activities designed by the centre to stimulate and promote productivity growth in the economy, as well as engender competitiveness.

    He said the centre’s greatest challenge was low funding from the budgetary allocation over the years, which manifests in the lack of a corporate head office and accumulated debts to landlords, inability to enhance the centre’s human resources capacity through training and retraining,

  • Ireland seeks stronger ties with Nigeria

    Ireland seeks stronger ties with Nigeria

    The Republic of Ireland is seeking renewed social partnership with Nigeria in view of the rampant cases of labour unrest caused by the economy downturn.

    The Irish Ambassador to Nigeria, Sean Hoy, stated this when he visited the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, in Abuja

    He said stronger ties would  enable Nigeria benefit from the Irish experience even as he said “tough times often give rise to adverse labour relations.”

    Ngige noted that every nation passed through phases of development, but the determination of a people was always critical to pulling through such situations.

    “Your country, Ireland, has passed through similar experience, a crushing recession and emerged from it.  Nigeria would learn from the doggedness of the Irish people and also emerge from recession,” Ngige said.

    He added that all over the world, labour relations in a depressed economy was usually frosty as a result of dwindling earnings on the part of workers and employers. He stressed that the cardinal focus of the present administration was to stem job losses in a situation where the government was handicapped to create many new jobs.

    Ngige further said Nigeria was mindful of unsettling her social equilibrium, hence, the government’s determined efforts to expand social investment net to cushion the effects of recession, ease hardship and curb social unrest.

    “We are diversifying into agriculture and mining to create jobs for the people. We are also focusing on social security.  Out of 500,000 youths captured in our social intervention programme, 200,000 are already working, while plans are in top gear to take on the rest.

    “We are investing on skills acquisition for these youths. The Conditional Cash Transfer has also taken off in nine states. By the end of February, we will take the number to 18 states while the remaining states are targeted for inclusion by the middle of the year, Ngige said.

    He said the government was doing all it could to move Nigeria out of recession. “There is nothing permanent in life. So, Nigeria will come out of recession. I just came in from the inaugural meeting of the Federal Government Committee on Food Security as well as that on Social Investment. We are working to make sure we have enough food to feed ourselves,” he added.

  • Address job losses in banking, union urges govt

    Address job losses in banking, union urges govt

    The Association of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI) President, Comrade Oyinkan Olasanoye, has said the government’s policies are forcing banks to retrench workers. She urged the Federal Government to review policies that might affect the insurance and banking sectors.

    Speaking with The Nation, Comrade Oyinkan said: “We realised that our members are losing their jobs and it has become a tripartite issue in the sense that it is no longer the fault of the employees or that of the employers, but also government’s policy. We operate in the financial sector, not manufacturing sector, so the only thing we deal with is fiscal.”

    She also said the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has been a problem to the union. “No matter the advantages of TSA, the government cannot just withdraw all their money from the banks and expect them to survive. We are trying to take a proposal to the government that if they are withdrawing their money from the banks because of TSA, they should loan it to the banks as an investment and at lesser interest rates. This will ensure liquidity in the system because with the way we are going, there is no money in the system,” Comrade Olasanoye said.

    According to her, the government is the biggest spender, but now it has not been spending.

    “This is affecting our members. The majority of our employers have issues because the policy is making business difficult to run. We are tackling the issue this year by engaging with government on its monetary policies. We are also engaging with our employers in order to save our jobs,” she said.

    She said the situation had reached a stage where ASSBIFI could no longer insist that banks should not retrench when the policies in place were forcing them to do so. “It is not about the government coming out to say banks should not retrench, but rather to know what they are doing to make it possible for banks not to retrench,” she added.

    Admitting that TSA is a very good policy, Comrade Olasanoye insisted that there should be a human face to every policy. “That we are trying to save government expenses and income does not mean it must totally collapse the banking sector. When the government was bringing TSA, they should have considered so many things. People are saying banks are no longer doing their core business, but that they run after government investment, yes, we should go into retail banking. But before we get to that stage, there must be a foundation,” she pointed out.

    She said apart from the need to do things gradually, the government should have considered the human factor before coming out with the policy. The government, she also said, should have assigned different parastatals to various banks.

    “For example, Skye Bank could be collecting all the TSA involving Nigerian Customs Service, while Unity Bank could be collecting that of the Nigerian Army,” the ASSBIFI chief, said, noting that with such arrangement, no bank would run out of cash.