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Tag: labour

  • Expatriate quota: Labour queries govt

    The Federal Government has been criticised by the organised labour for failing to checkmate expatriate quota abuse by multinationals.

    National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) President  Lateef Oyelekan, who spoke at the inuaguration of the Kwara/Kogi/Niger branch secretariat of the union in Ilorin, said the government’s failure to act decisively has further compounded unemployment in the country.

    “Our government should take this issue of expatraite quota abuse seriously and take a decision that will be beneficial to the country just as the government of Ghana has done,” he said.

    The law of the country, he noted, only allows expatriates on technical ground, but the multinationals, he lamented, no longer respect the law.

    According to him, they now bring in expatriate as line managers, accountants, sale and marketing managers, including other jobs that Nigerians are more qualified to do.

    He said: “Government should ensure that no expatriate comes in for the jobs that Nigerians can do, especially in marketing and sales. When you make a foreigner a marketing director, what does the person know about our terrain and market?

    “Most of our jobs have been taken over by the expatriates and we continue to complain of rising unemployment in the country.”

    Oyelekan said labour would no longer tolerate Nigerians being made second class citizens in their country.

    He recalled that workers in the aviation sector under National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers ( NAAPE ) umbrella recently shut down the operations of the Bristow and Caverton Helicopters nationwide, alleging  expatriate quota abuse and gross violation of workers’ rights.

    The NUFBTE President said all efforts at creating more employment should be encouraged, adding that the union through its entrepreneurial venture has over 200 employees.

    “Our goal is give all our state branches building of their own and empower them to go into business through that more jobs will be created. This we are doing in our little efforts to support the government,” he said.

    He said the inuagurated secretariat’s foundation was laid in 1993, but his leadership as part of the commitment to position the union as self sustaining with little reliance on the employers, undertook several ventures and completed many of such projects.

    Michael Imoudu Labour Institute (MINILS) Director-General, Alhaji Saliu Alabi, who represented the Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige, at the event commended the union for its foresight to remain financially relevant  in spite of the dwindling check off dues.

    Nigeria Breweries Employee Relations Manager, Mr. Niyi Alabi, equally described the new building as a national pride, built in spite of the recession. He urged the union to extend the goodwill to other councils.

  • Reps to probe alleged diversion of N62.3bn by NSITF Board

    Reps to probe alleged diversion of N62.3bn by NSITF Board

    The House of Representatives Tuesday mandated its committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity to conduct an investigative hearing into the mon- inauguration off the Nigeria Insurance Trust Fund ( NSITF).

    The committee is also to probe the alleged fraudulent diversion of the sum of N62.3 billion by its past Board.

    This was sequel to the passage of a motion by Hon. Prestige Ossy (APGA Abia) and the adoption of the prayers by the House.

    While moving the motion, the lawmaker noted that the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund Act established a Management Board which shall have general control to administer and manage NSITF and its funds (NSITF Fund and Employee Compensation Scheme).

    He said the federal government made an announcement for the constitution of the NSITF Board which is yet to be inaugurated.

    “Also aware that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC had discovered various acts of fraudulent diversions from the federal government and private sector contributions amounting to N62.3 billion as at 2015, allegedly perpetuated by the past Board and Management Staff of NSITF.

    “The perpetuation of this alleged fraud and the non- inauguration of the NSITF Board has thrown the agency into a state of confusion and left it dead to its responsibilities to the general public.”

    Ossy expressed concern that the general public including several stakeholders such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) have called for a quick intervention into the non-inauguration of the NSITF Board and alleged diversion of funds by the past Board and Management Staff of the NSITF.

    When the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara called for a vote on the issue, it was supported by majority of the members and referred to the committee on Labour, Employment and Productivity.

    The committee was given 6 weeks for report back to the House for further legislative action.

  • Labour pushes for anti-smuggling special task force

    Labour pushes for anti-smuggling special task force

    • Seeks implementation of CTG policy

    The National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), has called on the Federal Government to institute a special task force against smuggling.

    Its General Secretary, who spoke with The Nation, said the industry has recorded 700 job losses to retrenchment in some of the remaining factories.

    Comrade Aremu said: “There is high influx of counterfeit and smuggled goods due to weak enforcement of import prohibition policy. The Federal Government should do what is being done on rice importation, to textile.  We need a Special Task Force against smuggling just as it is on rice.

    ”In spite of the efforts by the Federal Government, the textile industry is yet to come alive. Only recently, the industry recorded about 700 direct job losses due to retrenchment in some of the remaining factories.”

    Aremu commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his commitment to reviving the textile industry, adding that Buhari  made textile industry and the manufacturing sector’s revival his cardinal campaign programme. He said through the activist facilitation, President Buhari administration has initiated a number of measures aimed at industry revival.

    Aremu said there could not be development without industry.  Only industry can provide sustainable jobs and living wages and necessary revenue for the government to provide the needed infrastructure for development, he said.

    He said for a diverse country like Nigeria, industry is also a unifier.

    ‘’There was once a Nigeria in which we have textile industry in all the geo-political zones of the country.This is why our union is Pan-Nigerian,’’ he said. He said for Africa to meet the Sustainable Development Goal, 2030, African Continent must innovate and industrialise.

    “Africa must copy China’s industrialisation drive, which has within 20 years moved over 500 million people out of poverty through sustainable employment and wage-led manufacturing and industrialisation. Africa must make what it consumes, otherwise it will be consumed by the rest of the world,” he said.

    He also commended the Executive Orders issued by the Federal Government in line with President Buhari’s promise on the ease of doing business.

    “We acknowledge and commended the Federal Government of Nigeria for launching the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP). However, it is surprising the National Cotton, Textile & Garment (CTG) policy was not built into the ERGP.

    “The government should ensure the implementation of Cotton, Textile and Garment (CTG) policy as adopted by the Federal Government since 2014. The major highlight in that policy is that we must ensure that there is uninterrupted electricity supply to textile industry, as well as other manufacturing industry,”he said.

  • Row over Oyo workers’ warning strike

    Row over Oyo workers’ warning strike

    The Oyo State government and organised labour in the state are trading words on a three-day warning strike, which workers in the employ of the government started yesterday.

    While the government blamed labour unions for violating the rules stipulated in Section43 (1)(a) of the Trade Dispute Act 2010, thereby failing to honour government invitation to resolve the industrial dispute, the labour unions accused the government of peddling lies to cover up its shortcomings.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) announced a three-day warning strike on Tuesday, which started yesterday, following the expiration of a seven-day notice to the government last Wednesday.

    Few workers turned up for work yesterday.

    Most of the offices were deserted.

    At some ministries, offices were open for work, but only few workers were seen.

    The entrance gates into the secretariat were manned by armed policemen, with three police patrol vans stationed in front of the gates.

    Dissatisfied by the reasons the unions gave for the warning strike, the government, in a statement by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Mr Olalekan Alli, expressed dismay about how organised labour ignored government invitation for talks to resolve their grievances.

    The government warned the workers not to abandon their duty posts, saying it would enforce a “no-work, no-pay” rule, in line with the Trade Dispute Act 2010 Section 43(1)(a).

    The statement said: “The Oyo State government received a letter yesterday (January 23) from Labour, conveying its decision to embark on a three-day warning strike from January 24 to 26, on the following issues:

    • alleged 17-month arrears of salaries of workers in the state’s tertiary institutions
    • alleged 56-month arrears of pension and gratuity of retired primary school teachers, and
    • sack of 256 workers of LAUTECH Teaching Hospital in Ogbomoso.”

    He said the government invited Labour leaders to a meeting, which they promised to attend at 4 p.m yesterday but did not attend.

    The State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Waheed Olojede said: “For the purpose of setting the records straight, the unions, last Wednesday (January 17), issued a seven-day strike notice to the government, which expired on Tuesday. They never responded, even after the last day. So, at the close of work on Tuesday, the union called a congress of the workers, where it declared a three-day warning strike, beginning on Wednesday (yesterday).

    “It was on Wednesday, when the union received a letter from the government, inviting us to a meeting by 4 p.m. But we explained, through a letter to the government, that since the unions’ leaders do not live within Ibadan, the meeting slated for 4 p.m would be impossible. And we suggested that the meeting should come up at 12 noon on Thursday (today).”

    The NLC described the government’s threat of “no work, no pay” as empty.

    The government said it was doing everything humanly possible to make workers happy with the resources at its disposal.

    It added: “Salaries and pensions of workers at the state level have been paid up till and including November 2017 with only one month salary and pension (December 2017) outstanding.

    “By the laws setting up the tertiary institutions, government is not responsible for the payment of salaries of workers in those institutions. In order to assist them, government is ONLY obliged to grant the tertiary institutions subventions, which each institution would apply to whichever area of need that its Governing Council and Management may decide upon.

    “The recent forensic audit reports on the tertiary institutions revealed a great deal of shortcomings such as inefficiencies, leakages, poor management, and other ineptitudes.  Some institutions were even declared unsustainable and unviable. The consultant further recommended their closure.  However, the recently constituted Governing Councils have been mandated to review their statuses and act suitably.

    “Contrary to Labour’s allegation, although Government on assumption of office in 2011, inherited Local Government Pension arrears totalling N4,736,741,934.49, it is on record that Government has disbursed pensions and gratuity of retired primary school teachers to the tune of  N11,729,534,282.54.

    “Meanwhile, to avert further build up and eliminate the hardship arising therefrom, the Contributory Pension Scheme has been adopted as a solution to effectively address the issue.

    “In view of the foregoing, and while dialogue continues, Government views the unilateral declaration of a 3-day warning strike by Labour as absolutely illegal, unwarranted and unjustifiable.  Government hereby appeals to Labour to shelve its illegal unilateral industrial action.”

  • Minimum wage: Labour expects delivery before third quarter

    Minimum wage: Labour expects delivery before third quarter

    Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige’s remarks on the deadline for the national minimum wage negotiating committee may have stirred the hornets’ nest.  TOBA AGBOOLA reports that labour leaders are anxious to smile earlier than the third quarter when the minister says the panel will turn in its recommendations.

    A NEW national minimum wage will be announced before the end of the year, if the word of the Minister Labour & Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, is anything to go by.

    The 30-member tripartite committee chaired by former Head of Service of the Federation Ms. Amal Pepple is billed to conclude its assignment by the third quarter and submit its report to President Muhammadu Buhari.

    But the organised labour would rather want all wage-related issues resolved not later than the third quarter, when the wage negotiating committee is expected to conclude its work.

    “The delivery and the adoption of the new minimum wage is expected to take effect before the third quarter,” labour leaders said yesterday.

    They were reacting to the minister’s remarks on the ongoing negotiation for a national minimum wage.

    The union leaders are NLC President Ayuba Wabba, his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart Bobboi Kaigama and Medical & Health Workers Union (MHWU) President Biobelemoye Joshua.

    Wabba said the union will reject any attempt to delay the adoption of a new wage for workers, adding that the prevailing minimum wage of N18, 000 (about $46) per month can no longer sustain the Nigerian worker.

    Reacting to the Minister’s comments that workers will soon smile, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba said labour will reject any delay or extention on the new minimum wage.

    The labour leader said yesterday: “It is our expectation that all issues pertaining to the new minimum wage will be concluded before the end of third quarter of 2018 to give Nigerian workers a new hope that the government and other employers of labour have not totally abandoned them.

    He stressed the need for the committee to consider the plight of workers and pensioners during its deliberations and initiate decisions that will improve the lives of the generality of Nigerians.

    According to him, the inauguration of the wage negotiating panel, which was done by the President on November 27, was long overdue.

    “This is something that workers have long anticipated and our expectation is that we want a speedy process now that the facts of the issues are very obvious,” Wabba said.

    He said the purchasing power of the N18, 000 wage minimum, which was approved in 2011, has waned over the years.

    “If you look at the exchange rate”, Wabba said, “the N18, 000 minimum wage of 2011 when we signed the agreement, it was almost equivalent to N110 dollars. Today, the N18, 000 is less than 46 dollars.

    “So, this is the reality and with the purchasing power of the ordinary worker, with the high cost of transaction, our expectation is that the committee should look at the conditions of workers and pensioners.’’

    He explained such considerations were imperative to address the issue of social imbalance, inequality and the wide gap of poverty in the country.

    In his reaction, the TUC President said they (labour) expect everything to be concluded before the end of the quarter.

    Kaigama said “it’s a welcome development and good news to the organised labour if the minister is saying indirectly that the new minimum wage will come earlier than envisaged.

    The TUC chief said the initial attempt by the Federal Government to extend the committee work till 2019 was short down by labour from the outset.

    He said: “We have just set the ball rolling. We will be very happy if everything can be concluded before the third quarter. Initially, they wanted to extend it till 2019, but we rejected this.

    “We said if this thing is for this administration, then it must happen before the third quarter.”

    Kaigama informed that the committee will be meeting before the end of the month.

    The MHWU President said that any attempt by the government to score political point with the minimum wage issue will be rejected by organised labour.

    “We are certain that if the government employs delay tactics for any reason, labour will react,’’ Joshua said.

    Although the committee was yet to sit since its inauguration last year, stakeholders are optimistic that its members will come up with favourable decisions at the end of the panel’s assignment this year.

    The committee report, Dr. Ngige said, will guide the Federal Government on the issuance of a white paper and subsequently transmit the content to the National Assembly for approval.

    Speaking at the weekend after flagging off the proposed skills acquisition center at Ifitedunu in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State, the minister told reporters that the minimum wage, when endorsed by the National Assembly and signed into law by the President, will be binding on state governments.

    Many of states have been demanding that they be allowed to negotiate with the workers on their payroll to enable them come up with what could afford to pay.

    With the dwindling allocations from the Federation Accounts, not a few states find it hard to meet their monthly obligations to workers on salaries and allowances to retirees.

    Ngige described minimum wage as a national matter on which the constitution allows only the Federal Government to legislate on, being on the exclusive legislative list.

    The minister, who doubles as the deputy chairman, said committee had swung into action after its inaugural meeting on December 14, last year.

    He said: “The committee, which had brought out a framework to guide it, will conclude its work by the third quarter of 2018 and then submit its report to enable the Federal Government issue a white paper and subsequently transmit the content to the National Assembly.

    “That is why the President is not over flogging the issue, but he is monitoring the work of the committee. One thing that is clear is that the states will abide by whatever will be the outcome of the work of the committee because they (governors) have nominees there.

    “The Governors’ Forum is represented in the committee and the Federal Government component is represented by five ministers and the Head of Service of the Federation. It will therefore be against the spirit of the constitution for the states to have their own minimum wage.”

    Insisting that the national minimum wage would be the baseline, the minister, however added that states with capability to pay above the approved wage could do so, “but not below the national minimum wage”, he said.

    The minister explained said that whatever minimum wage that would be proposed would be backed up with productivity indices, noting that was why the National Employers Consultative Assembly (NECA) has representative in the committee to protect their workers’ interest.

    By its tripartite nature, the committee, which was inaugurated at the Council Chambers, State House in Abuja has its membership drawn from the public sector, (federal and state governments) and the private sector, made up of the largest private employer group and NECA.

    It other members include: the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) and Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).

    In a statement, the Deputy Director in charge of Press, Ministry of Labour & Employment, Samuel Olowookere, named Ms. Pepple (Chairman); Ngige (Deputy Chairman) and the Chairman of the National Salaries, Income & Wages Commission Richard Egbule, as Secretary.

    Other Federal Government representatives are: Udo Udo Udoma (Minister of Budget & Economic Planning); Mrs. Kemi Adeosun (Finance); Mrs. Winifred E. Oyo-Ita (Head of Civil Service of the Federation), and Permanent Secretary, General Services Office, Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Dr. Roy Ugo.

    Governors Rauf Aregbesola (Osun, Southwest); Rochas Okorocha (Imo, Southeast) Hassan Dankwambo (Gombe, Northeast); Nyesom Wike (Rivers, Southsouth); Simon Lalong (Plateau, Northcentral) and Abubakar Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi, Northwest) are representing the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF).

    The Forum’s Director-General, Asishana Okauru, was nominated as an observer.

    Accompanying Wabba in the NLC team are Peters Adeyemi, Kiri Mohammed, Amechi Asugwuni and Peter Ozo-Eson. Besides Kaigama, the TUC delegation has   Sunday Olusoji Salake, Alade Bashir Lawa, Igwe Achese and President, Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG).

    From the employers’ side are NECA’s Director-General Olusegun Oshinowo, Timothy Olawale, Chuma Nwankwo, Mrs. Olubunmi Adekoje, the Director-General, Federation of Construction Industry (FOCI), Ahmed Ladan Gobi, Kaduna East Branch Chairman of the Manufacturers’ Association (MAN), Otunba Francis Oluwagbenre, Hajia Muheeba Dankaka, Kano Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) President Prince Degun Agboade and  President, Nigeria Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME).

     

  • Leadership, labour and sustainable development

    The pursuit of sustainable development is the essence and singular objective of governance and the objective of every institution and organization within the state. This is the nation-building process which the entire people are engaged. The people could be classified into two broad classes: the political class represented by the government; and the people, represented by labour.

    The leadership initiates the nation-building process, by exhibiting a sense of nationalism and thereby inspiring the patriotic zeal of the citizens, with the singular objective of mobilizing them to build the nation. This is the basis of the modern state and the philosophy upon which the Nigerian nation was founded and the spirit with which her independence was fought. History reports the fact that Nigeria’s independence is result of the collaborative efforts of the nationalists and trade unionists.

    In the struggle for independence, strikes by trade unions facilitated the activities of nationalists. Strikes by organized labour, were justified and geared towards ending the exploitative socio-economic order of the time. At this time, there was popular nationalistic fervour to terminate colonial rule by all means. The objective was to create and optimize local opportunities for the benefit of Nigerians. The quest for self-rule was thereby considered fundamental to development; trade unionism was therefore popularized and strikes were therefore legitimized. For this purpose, blackmail, subversion and any action that could undo the imperial order of the time was justified. The attainment of independence notwithstanding, strikes have remained a re-occurring decimal in our national life and have indeed, assumed the benchmark by which the existence of trade unions and the performance of their leadership is measured.

    Several decades after independence, Nigeria is yet to be launched on the path of sustainable development. The political class is yet to achieve a common nationalism while the citizens are yet to be organized into a productive workforce. The reason is that the political class has been distracted by the inordinate quest for power. The non-recognition of this lapse and the failure to step into the gap by labour is the bane of our national development. The political class has since independence failed in developing the human capacity to run a productive system. This class abandoned economic development, which ought to be the objective of politics, for the inordinate quest for political power. Post-independence    labour leadership ought to have made the difference by generating ideas that could transform Nigerians into a productive workforce. Regrettably, labour activism has been focused on self-serving, unproductive and economic destructive activism, as it was during the colonial era.  This is excusable. In the light of the limited education of the labour leaders of the time, there were no viable options to strike actions. At this time, industrial unions were restricted to, and led by a class of citizens to whom the derogatory term, ‘Labourers’ aptly applied. By virtue of the limited education of the labour leaders of the time, there was no apparent alternative to populist mob actions, as these leaders could hardly engage intellectually.

    The gain of political independence notwithstanding, the resort to strike actions by trade unions did not abate. Due to the ideological war between the West and Eastern nations, labour leaders pitched tent with deviant, belligerent and ‘subversive’ socialist ideologues of the East. Part of the gains of this alignment however, is in the intellectual enrichment of trade unions vide the educational scholarship offered to labour leaders and which was extended to young and impressionable intellectuals. Thus, industrial activism was introduced to ivory towers through the activities of impressive adventurous young academics who enjoyed the benevolence of socialist ideologues. This explains the transformation that has taken place in trade unionism since independence, which period witnessed large scale unionization and admission of impressive academics and educational associations into organized labour fold.

    Current unionists and industrial activists are therefore well-informed and intellectually grounded. This notwithstanding, industrial activism has not transcended the boring and disruptive strike actions to something intellectually engaging, constructive and development-oriented. The resort to strikes is not only a betrayal of the level of sophistication of present day unions, it is also disruptive of our socio-economic development process. The labour leadership has not been able to overcome this lapse, because of the lack of understanding that the burden of leadership actually fell on her after independence, as the politicians got distracted with the inordinate struggle for political power to the detriment of economic development. Thus, while considerable enterprise is engaged in developing the electoral process, there isn’t a commensurate effort at establishing sustainable development systems that guarantees the socio-economic well-being of citizens.

    Sustainable development demands the mobilization, processing, deployment and access to the national human and natural resource potential for the optimum benefit of the citizens. There is need to evolve the systems required to institutionalize this process, which organized labour is most suited to do; and to define and prescribe the kind of leadership required to drive and sustain it. To be able to provide the requisite leadership, labour leadership need to appreciate the fact that the people (labour) is indeed, the centre and main object of development. Organized labour leadership ought to understand that;

    First, that the major national handicap is in our inability to be organized into a productive workforce; and the failure of our politics to produce the leadership type that appreciates the above imperative; and the imperative of developing and evolving a social system and infrastructure required to facilitate the mobilization and processing of ideas into consumable products and services which are accessible by citizens.

    The foregoing should constitute indispensable factors in labour activism if organized labour is to play its leadership role in moving the citizens out of the current survivalist mode. Industrial activism must transcend its current agenda of organizing simply to scramble for resources for personal and group survival. The current state of its social sophistication demands that labour leaders re-construct the narrative of industrial activism, if it is to live up to its high premium. They need to appreciate the fact that labour which constitute the human capital of a nation, transcends those who earn fixed wages to everyone involved in the processes of;  Ideas, creativity and innovations, which are products of human intellectual enterprises, which deserve rewards; Production and processing of innovations and creative ideas, which are done through human entrepreneurial investments and engagements; The process of determining the volume and quality of production and the needs; and, the ability or capacity of the people to consume the benefits of the products and services.

    All of the above processes demand adequate incentives and motivation. This is by the development of appropriate process and scheme to harness and enable the citizens to engage in the four processes of; generating ideas, deploying resources to process or produce the ideas, ensure that the products are consumed; and to develop the capacity to consume the products of the activities at the various levels.

    The integrity and importance of industrial activism, therefore, is the extent to which it is committed to sustaining the above processes. The importance of these processes is that every citizen is involved in at least one or several of them, either as an inventor, a creator, innovator; producer, processor; or consumer. Leadership responsibility involves ensuring that citizens are incentivized and motivated to participate in these processes and thereby ensure sustainable development. This is the most and only viable way of empowering the citizens, sustaining economic development and thereby rendering industrial unions useful in the nation-building process. This is the leadership required at a time as this; and labour leaders have no choice if they are to remain relevant.

    • Iyoke, legal practitioner was a member of 2014 National Conference.
  • Statistician urges labour to shun strike

    Statistician urges labour to shun strike

    The Office of the Statistician-General in Osun State has urged labour unions not to embark on strike.

    In a statement, the Statistician-General Prof. Wasiu Gbolagade said what the state needs at “this critical time is the cooperation of everyone”.

    According to him, the government is trying its best to satisfy the citizenry.

    He said: “From our available records and database, the Osun State government does not owe workers on levels One to Seven a single naira till date. The government has been paying all their emoluments and other entitlements as at when due. The percentage of the workers that fall into this category is 82 per cent.

    “However, other categories, which do not fall into these categories, are senior workers who are entitled to substantial amount of running costs per month, apart from their normal 75 per cent or 50 per cent of their monthly salaries.

    “Also, from available records, the workers on Level 8 and above are enjoying participation and attendance of conferences, workshops, among others, which attract some monetary benefits, apart from salaries.”

    The statistician-general, who reminded workers that “life is give-and-take,” advised labour unions to think twice before leading workers on a strike that “would do no one any good”.

    Labour unions, last Friday, declared an industrial action over non-payment of workers’ full salaries.

    The labour unions, comprising Trade Union Congress (TUC), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), ordered their members to begin indefinite strike after Christmas holiday on December 27.

    According to the labour, the strike was to make the state government yield to their demands because the 21-day ultimatum by labour unions had expired.

    The state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Jacob Adekomi, on Friday, declared the indefinite strike at a media briefing in Osogbo, the state capital.

    Adekomi, who said there was no basis for the state government to further pay modulated salaries to categories of workers, said labour unions would no longer accept the embargo placed on promotion of workers since 2012.

    The labour leaders said there was no going back on the action unless the state government acceded to their demand.

  • Labour, civil society kick against electricity tariff hike

    Labour, civil society kick against electricity tariff hike

    The civil society and the organised labour have vowed to engage the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) over plans to increase electricity tariff by over 61 per cent.

    Speaking after a rally in Lagos, leader of the Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), Comrade Toluwani Adebiyi, said the move was unacceptable.

    Adebiyi said the increment is totally unaffordable, considering the biting economic hardship assailing the already impoverished masses.

    The human rights activist recalled that the electricity distribution companies (Discos) were yet to honour the agreements they signed with the Federal Government in November 2013 to issue prepaid metres to all Nigeria consumers within 18 months.

    “It will amount to a rude disrespect to the rule of law to talk of increment now when the matter that touches so much on tariff increment is still pending in court,” he said.

    Adebiyi observed that it has been incessant power tariff increments without commensurate improvement, saying Nigerians have been paying for gross darkness with no value in return for the exorbitant bill paid by consumers.

    He urged NERC to optimise its generating capacity by ensuring that the electricity generating companies (GENCOs) generate enough power for the DisCos.

    He advised the Federal Government to revoke private companies license and take over the sector if the private companies cannot stabilise and improve power in Nigeria after four years of privatisation.

    “The Nigeria power sector for long has been taking undue advantage of and exploiting Nigerian electricity consumers. Until the labour group and civil society organisations decided to take up and challenge their inordinate trade practices, he added.

  • Labour demands dignity for workers

    Labour demands dignity for workers

    •Union condemns competence test in public schools

    Organised labour has decried what it described as the “gross violation of workers’ dignity”, through the controversial “competence test” for workers and teachers, particularly in public schools.

    Vice President of Industrial Global Union, Issa Aremu, at the 2017 national conference of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in Kaduna, called on state governors to “dignify their respective workforce through capacity building, understanding and sympathy, as demanded by the principles of decent work by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).”

    Aremu, who is also an executive of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the General-Secretary of Textile Workers’ Union, noted that the 1999 Constitution guaranteed basic human and workers’ rights.

    He lamented that Nigerians’ constitutional right was being implemented more in the breach than compliance, citing non-payment and delayed payment of what he called, “miserable pay” by some state governors and private employers.

    He said it was unacceptable and counter-productive dramatising and criminalising workers’ skill gap when skills’ upgrading and upliftment were required.

    The labour leader observed that Section 34(1) of 1999 Constitution holds that every individual, including working men and women, is entitled to have respect for the dignity of his/her person, adding that exhibiting so-called failures of teachers or any workers during competence test violateds their rights to privacy and dignity.

    “It is debatable if any of the state governors can truly pass competence/governance tests by Nigerians, but we all appreciate their weaknesses, we even re-elect some of them, only for them to degrade the workforce through punitive examinations not necessarily capacity building for improvement and promotion,” the labour leader said.

    Aremu said Nigeria risks perpetual underdevelopment, if it refuses to treat its workforce better through training and re-training, better pay, work schedule and enforced discipline, adding that more advanced nations, that regard labour as the most valued factor of production, such as China and India, are fast developing, while Nigeria, which he alleged derides labour, lags behind.

    The labour leader praised President Muhammadu Buhari for tasking some recalcitrant governors on non-payment of salaries, adding that workers rights to living wage are human rights.

    Also commending the activities of the president of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Malachy Ugwummadu, the labour leader described CDHR as “a strong African institution made of strong men and women who, at the risks of persecution by the military and civilian dictators”, stood to defend, sustain and promote fundamental human rights of all Africans as guaranteed in the Nigerian Constitution, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.

    Aremu also called on legislators to strengthen civil society, adding that only vibrant civil society groups could check the political class.

  • Sustain tax holiday policy, Labour leader urges govt

    Sustain tax holiday policy, Labour leader urges govt

    The Federal Government has been urged to sustain the tax holiday policy and ensure that its implementation is adequately monitored to forestall corrupt practices.

    Speaking with The Nation, President, National Union of Chemical, Footwear (NUCFRLANMPE), Comrade Olatunji Babatunde, said if carefully guided, tax holiday would attract Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and domestic investments, which would generate employment.

    He said with tax holiday, the number of companies relocating to neighbouring countries and the closure of companies would be reduced.

    “Companies will no longer relocate to neighbouring countries. There will be employment. Crime rate will be reduced because able-bodied people are gainfully employed.

    “Volumes of trade will appreciate. Massive importation of consumer goods will reduce thereby pave the way for exportation or self-sufficiency and the government will derive more revenue,’’ Babatunde said.

    He, however, said depletion of revenue base was not a sufficient reason to stop tax holiday as such holiday is futuristic in nature.

    “The gains may not be a short term gains, but long term,’’ he said.

    Meanwhile, in line with the tax incentive, the Federal Government announced in September that it would grant a 10-year tax incentive to Dangote Group after the company has agreed to rehabilitate the Apapa-Oworonshoki Expressway.

    The government handed over the design of the 35km Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway to Dangote Group in furtherance to steps by the government to rehabilitate the road.

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) recently urged the Federal Government to phase out tax holidays and exemptions as they erode Company Income Tax base.