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Tag: ILO

  • ILO, World Bank okay AEDC working conditions

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the International Finance Corporation, an affiliate of the World Bank, have certified the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company’s (AEDC) staff conditions of service document.

    The company’s Director, Corporate Services,  Abimbola Odubiyi stated this to representatives of the Nigeria Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) and the Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) at the weekend in Abuja.

    Shedding light on the document that is valid till 2022, he explained that it was meant for a good working relationship between the unions and the management.

    He said: “The pillar of the document is workers’ welfare, safety, and remuneration based on performance.”

    Its implementation, according to him, shall be through consultations.

    NUEE General Secretary, Comrade Joseph Ajaero and SSAEAC President-General, Comrade Chris Okonkwo signed for their respective unions.

  • How Nigeria fought her way back to ILO

    How Nigeria fought her way back to ILO

    Following a deft diplomatic engagement by the Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige at the 106th session of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conference held between June 5th – 16th in Geneva, Switzerland, Nigeria made an impressive come-back to the apex leadership of the world labour body with the election of the nation’s tripartite of government, workers and employers into the titular and deputy positions in the ILO governing board, while clinching the membership of four strategic committees. The Governing Body (GB) is made up of 122 members comprising 56 titular members and 66 deputies. Of the 56 titular members, 28 are government representatives, while 14 apiece represent employers and workers respectively. Also, out of 66 deputies, 28 represent governments, 19 employers and the rest 19, workers. However, it is important to note that equal rights and privileges accrue to both titular and deputy members of the Governing Board. Hence, while the Nigerian government represented by the Minister of Labour and the Director General of Nigeria Employee Consultative Assembly (NECA) Segun Oshinowo representing the employers were elected deputies, the President of NLC, Ayuba Wabba was elected as titular member to represent the Nigerian workers, all for three years.   Nigeria last sat on the board over a decade ago.

    However, the journey to this victorious Geneva outing started way back in April at the 2nd Ordinary Session of the Specialized Technical Committee on Social Development, Labour and Employment, organized by the Africa Union in Algiers, Algeria . At that summit, three things happened in four successive days. One was Nigeria’s pivotal address at the opening session where Ngige brought to international consciousness, the commitment of the Buhari administration to growing the economy through strategic initiatives that utilize the nation’s huge population as a fulcrum. The other was at the closing session where the labour minister canvassed the urgent establishment of the Youth Fund for Employment by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) in the face of the Future of Work and challenges posed by it. He warned that the Future of Work in Africa would remain bleak without a corresponding new way to effectively tackle its challenges because innovations brought about by it have changed the manner work and productions are organized.

    But in between this, was high wire politics among African nations to fill the slots into the Governing Board of the ILO scheduled for June. Almost all the West African nations were interested to pick the slots allocated to West Africa. Nigeria’s closest ally in the sub-region, Ghana saw the position as a deserving gift to her President.  The country’s Labour Minister, Bright Brobbey had during the bilateral meeting between Nigeria and Ghana in Algiers said that much and tried unsuccessfully to exploit the usual Nigeria’s big brother disposition to realize her aspiration. Ghana had canvassed that an open contest between Nigeria and Ghana would provide a leeway for the French West African nations to take the day. But Nigeria’s minister of labour thought differently. When the meeting reconvened the next day therefore, Ngige told the gathering Nigeria was not ready for concession that could halt her march, noting it was time for Ghana to reciprocate her earlier support.  Ghana later conveyed her decision to drop from the race at another pre- Geneva Conference committee meeting.

    That done, Nigeria went ahead to consolidate the bridges it started building across Anglo West African countries the foundation of which Ngige laid at the African Regional Labour Centre (ARLAC) conference in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe in February.  Sierra Leone and Liberia have been on lukewarm membership due to economic reasons. In fact, at the Victoria Falls meeting, delisting Sierra Leone’s membership with years of defaulting financial obligation was mooted. But Nigeria argued against and suggested that more time be given to the West African nation to live up to its obligation. Nigeria followed it up with personal reach out to the two countries. It was not therefore surprising that both Liberia and Sierra Leone came with full delegation in Geneva and behind Nigeria’s quest into the ILO Governing Board. What does Nigeria gain from this election?  There will be inflow of technical assistance on varying specialised areas especially labour laws, finance, production, skill acquisition, job creation, general labour administration as well as wider vista for full participation in International Job Migration.  The Ministry of Labour zonal and state skills centres have been undergoing rehabilitation under the present administration; this upbeat can only blossom further with the elastic technical skills from the ILO experts.

    Better World of Work was the central theme of this year’s Geneva Conference and the Director General of the ILO Guy Ryder told the 187 member body that “nothing would more clearly distinguish the first hundred years of the ILO’s history from the second than the necessary greening of the world of work.” His address tagged the Green Initiatives, highlighted the potential for the greening of production as powerful engine for decent work creation and for balanced growth and development.

    Nigeria’s response to this address was dramatic and instructive. Speaking under the theme, “Work in a Changing Climate,” Senator Ngige pledged Nigeria’s commitment to the Green Initiative and attributed the recent outbreak of cerebrospinal meningitis in parts of northern Nigeria to the adverse effects of climate change.  The Paris Initiative on Climate Change is at the heart of Nigeria’s effort at combating the phenomenon, he said, adding that the federal government has taken major steps as illustrated by its huge investments in solar, wind and hydro energy, as well as ending gas flaring by 2020, “ways to reduce pollution and check climate change,” he enthused. He said Nigeria’s commitment to 2063 African Agenda for security, growth and sustainable development was irrevocable. He also referred to Nigeria’s current economic downturn, asking for technical support to buoy up national budget. The minister would not have omitted the new minimum wage for the Nigerian workers where the entire world gathered to discuss the world of work. He therefore assured that the 29-member committee on the issue would soon commence work. He also noted that though the employers association, one leg of the labour tripartite had raised objection to the proposed N56, 000 minimum wage, the entire tripartite was however agreed that N18, 000 was no longer tenable or meaningful. A light at the end of the tunnel for workers you would say. Similarly, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba in his address to the conference harped on global peace and improved working conditions for workers all over the world, stressing that “decent work is a panacea to global peace.”

     

    • Nwachukwu is an Abuja based journalist.
  • Senate to partner ILO to combat child labour – Saraki

    Senate to partner ILO to combat child labour – Saraki

    Senate President, Bukola Saraki, said on Monday the Senate would work with the International Labour Organization (ILO) to eliminate all forms of child labour in the country.

    Saraki stated this in Abuja when the country Director of the ILO, Dennis Zulu, visited him as part of activities marking the World Day Against Child Labour.

    He reassured the ILO director that the “Senate assigns particular importance to the fight against child labor.”

    In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Print Media, Chuks Okocha, Saraki commended the United Nations for its fight against child labour saying “we must all do more to eliminate the use of children for forced labour.”

    He noted that the lack of advocacy limited greater understanding on the issue.

    The Senate president said he hosted a Children’s Day roundtable discussion with States Houses of Assembly on the Child’s Rights Act of 2003 to “raise awareness about our obligation to defend the rights of children.”

     

  • Equip your energetic youths, ILO tasks African leaders

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has challenged African leaders to equip their energetic young population with the required skills and opportunities to enable them contribute to the economic and social development of the continent and help strengthen the continent’s vibrant private sector.

    Speaking at a meeting of the 43rd Governing Council meeting of the African Regional Labour Advisory Council meeting in Geneva, ILO Assistant Director-General and Regional Director for Africa, Aeneas Chapinga Chuma, said it was very important for leaders of the continent to redouble their efforts to empower Africans with the necessary skills to promote development from bottom up through innovations and investment.

    He said despite a decade of growth and progress, much of the population in Africa still live in poverty, adding that the future of work has become increasingly necessary and important as we look at future Labour demand requirements.

    He said: “Attaining decent work for all remains a commitment for many of our countries and is embedded in the sustainable development goal, particularly goal number eight, which promotes sustained an inclusive economic growth, improve and protect employment and decent work for all.

    “It will require concerted efforts of several partners to make this a reality for our continent. It will entail leveraging on several modalities at the national, regional and international level. Taking note of the fact that official development available to Africa is likely to shrink over time; other sources of funding including funding from the private sector will become increasingly important.”

    While stressing the need for south south cooperation, he said such a cooperation was necessary as a development modality that Africa needs to tap on, saying “less than a month ago, tripartite delegation from six ARLAC member countries participated in an ILO conference in Casablanca, Morocco, where African countries affirmed their commitment to the promotion of South South cooperation in the African region.

    “The conference affirmed the potentials of south south cooperation to accurate structural transformation agenda in accordance with the 2030 agenda for sustainable development. ARLAC is encouraged to explore south south cooperation as a means to realizing the broader goals of the institution in the area of capacity building.

    “The pursuit of social justice and decent work remains a challenge and looking for sources of growth to spare human development will require greater investment in human capital such as in health, education and in skills building.” Chuma said.

    Chairperson of ARLAC, Priscah Mupfumira, said the Labour force in Africa far outstrips job creation, pointing out that there is the need to address this mismatch.

  • 168m children engaged in child labour globally, says ILO

    168m children engaged in child labour globally, says ILO

    Majority of the over 168 million children involved in child Labour across the world live in areas affected by conflict and disaster, and often pay the heaviest price during conflicts according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

    The ILO has therefore decided to dedicate the 2017 World Day Against Child Labour scheduled for Monday, 12 June to focus on the impact of conflicts and disasters on child labour globally.

    The world body of Labour asked world leaders and member states  to take measure to combat and prevent child Labour, adding that “in times of conflict, in times of disaster, when livelihoods are disrupted, basic services are lost and people can be forced from their homes, entire families become more vulnerable. But it is children who often pay the heaviest price.”

    It added that the  proposed ILO Recommendation concerning Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience (Revision of the Transition from War to Peace Recommendation, 1944, No. 71 ), being discussed during the 106th Session of the International Labour Conference  (ILC) calls for specific action against child labour arising from or exacerbated by conflicts or disasters. 

    “In countries affected by conflicts and disaster, the ILO, governments, workers’ and employers’ organizations and humanitarian actors work together to prevent and withdraw children from child labour, and enrol them in education. Using an integrated approach to promote fundamental principles and rights at work, the ILO has developed specific tools to prevent child labour and provide economic reintegration in post-conflict situations, with a particular focus on children formerly associated with armed forces and groups. 

    “The ILO works closely with partners to tackle child labour in emergencies. In 2016, the Child Labour Task Force of the Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action , co-chaired by the ILO and Plan International, launched its Inter-agency Guidance: Supporting the Protection Needs of Child Labourers in Emergencies . This toolkit provides guidance to humanitarian workers on protecting children from child labour. 

    “The ILO is part of Alliance 8.7 , the global strategic partnership committed to achieving SDG Target 8.7, which calls on the world to end forced labour, modern slavery and human trafficking, and, by 2025 to end child labour in all its forms. One of its six Action Groups is dedicated to addressing these issues in situations of crisis,” ILO stated.

    It argued that Child labour violates international laws and the UN Conventions, including the ILO child labour Conventions and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adding that the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138)  and the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182)  have now been ratified by 169 and 180 member States respectively. 

    The 2017  world day against child Labour is part of activities lined up for the ongoing 106th session of the international Labour Organisation.

  • Nigeria seeks return to ILO’s board

    Nigeria seeks return to ILO’s board

    Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige has disclosed that the country will be seeking a return to the governing board of the International Labour Organisation during the forthcoming in 106the session of the International Labour Conference in Geneva.
    Speaking while inaugurating members of the various committees to articulate Nigeria’s position at the conference, the. Minister said his Ministry’s ground work and diplomatic shuttle in this regards has yielded positive result as Nigeria candidacy into the ILO Governing Body has been approved by other African Countries.
    He said the country must “harness all resources as a country, hence my Ministry thought it imperative for Nigeria to get back to the Governing Board of the ILO.
    “We have started the ground work and diplomatic shuttle and am happy to announce to you that we are going to Geneva this time around with Nigeria having been nominated by other African Countries under the auspices of Africa Union Commission for a place in the Governing Board of ILO with all the attendant benefits that accrue to countries that are in the Governing Body. We are going to represent West Africa at the Governing Board meeting. ”
    Ngige added that the meeting will be very momentous for Nigeria as a lot of benefits will accrue to Nigeria in terms of technical assistance, human and material resources that will assist the Nation’s drive towards economic recovery.
    He said further that “The big idea is for us to represent Nigeria well. Nigeria is going to the Conference at a very critical period when our nation is just coming out of recession.”
    The inaugurated committees include Committee on the Application of Standards, Committee for Labour Migration, Committee on Employment and Decent Work for the Transition to Peace, Committee for the Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and Finance.

  • ILO seeks Fed Govt, Labour dialogue on minimum wage

    ILO seeks Fed Govt, Labour dialogue on minimum wage

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has advised the Federal Government and Labour to use social dialogue in negotiating a new minimum wage for its workers.

    Its Country Director for Nigeria, Mr Dennis Zulu, gave the advice in Abuja.

    The ILO Convention stipulates that a minimum wage review is  every four years.

    He said: “Discussion on the minimum wage for instance, this social dialogue mechanism can be used to achieve an optimum solution and optimum win-win results agreeable to all the parties or the tripartite partners in Nigeria.

    “Social dialogue is a critical component to maintaining industrial harmony in the workplace and therefore we want to encourage that the three parties, the private sector, worker organisations and government.

    “Always use this mechanism as a way of reaching agreements on this contentious issue and have the necessary information to put in place an appropriate argument to back their demands,’’ he said.

    Zulu said Nigeria has a social dialogue mechanism within which all the three parties meet and should not relent in using such platform.

    He added that ILO would want to see more of these meetings, especially as a way of finding solutions to agreements on some issues that arises in workplaces.

    “Basically, each of the three partners has equal right to all discussion around the work place through the mechanism called the social dialogue.

    “We encourage the three partners to engage in discussions, consultations on all issues that will affect the welfare of workers in the workplace.

    “Because we believed that it is only through reaching consensus through social dialogue that we can get the industrial harmony that is needed for the workplace to be functional,’’ he added.

  • 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.”

  • ILO: Global youth unemployment rose by 13.1% in 2016

    ILO: Global youth unemployment rose by 13.1% in 2016

    Global youth unemployment last year rose by 13.1 per cent, an increase from 12.9 per cent recorded at the end of 2015, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has said.

    This was contained in ILO’s latest research report titled: “World Employment and Social Outlook for Youth 2016: Trends for Youths.”

    The report  quoted ILO Deputy Director-General for Policy, Ms Deborah Greenfield, as saying that global number of unemployed youths would rise by half a million to reach 71 million in the first such increase in three years.

    According to Greenfield, “Of greater concern is the share and number of young people, often in emerging and developing countries, who live in extreme or moderate poverty in spite of having a job.

    “In fact, 156 million or 37.7 per cent of working youths are in extreme or moderate poverty as compared with 26 per cent of working adults.”

    She said the alarming rise in youth unemployment and the equally disturbing high levels of youths, who still live in poverty, show how difficult it will be to end poverty globally by 2030.

    Greenfield said in the report that there was need for countries to redouble efforts at achieving sustainable economic growth and decent work.

    She noted that the report also highlighted wide disparities between young women and men in the labour market, adding that there was need for ILO member-states and social partners to be addressed urgently.

    The disturbing research also quoted ILO Senior Economist Mr. Steven Tobin as saying that the labour force participation rate for young men stood at 53.9 per cent, compared with 37.3 per cent for young women.

    Tobin, who is the lead author of the report, said that the disparity between young men and young women represented a gap of 16.6 per cent.

    “The challenge is particularly acute in Southern Asia, Arab States and Northern Africa, where female youth participation rates are respectively, 32.9, 32.3 and 30.2 per cent lower than those of male youth in 2016,’’ Tobin said.

    He, however, said that unemployment increases were driven by the slowdown in emerging economies.

    Tobin said that global economic growth in 2016 was estimated at 3.2 per cent, 0.4 per cent lower than the figure predicted in late 2015.

    He added that this was driven by a deeper than expected recession in some key emerging commodity exporting countries and stagnating growth in some developed countries.

  • New HIV cases rising globally, says ILO

    The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has raised the alarm that new Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infections were rising in some regions of the world.

    In his message to mark the 2016 World AIDS Day, ILO Director-General Guy Ryder said since most people spend most part of their life in workplaces, the workplace could play a critical role in fighting AIDS.

    He said there was an estimated 37 million people living with HIV globally, with majority of them within working age.

    Ryder added that over 35 million people have died of AIDS related illnesses, making it one of the most destructive pandemics in history.

    He said the recent UNAIDS report shows that the lifecycle approach to HIV raises optimism as well as concerns, adding that while 18.2 million people now have access to HIV treatment, there was no reduction in the number of new HIV infections among adults in the past five years.