The Nation Newspaper

Tag: labour

  • Labour threatens to picket airlines 

    Trade’ unions may be forced to picket domestic airlines that disallow their workers from joining any group of their choice, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Comrade Omar Abdulwaheed has said.

    He said the airlines’ attitude was tantamount to depriving the workers their freedom of association as enshrined in the constitution.

    He said no efforts would be spared to ensure that workers were allowed to free themselves from the “shackles of slave drivers in the aviation sector.”

    Omar spoke at the Ninth Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE) in Abuja.

    He said it was disgusting that out of all the country’s domestic airlines, only Aero Contractors allowed its workers to join the union of their choice.

    The airlines’ action, he said was illegal, adding: ”If foreign airlines, such as British Airways, Lufthansa, KLM and others that are flying into the country can respect our laws, it is shocking that our own Nigerian airlines are infringing on workers’ freedom of association.”

    Omar, who vowed that the Labour was ready to put an end to this, hinted that airlines would be picketed soon.

    He said: ”We shall start with the big one among them after which we will move to others.”

    He assured the workers’ delegates of Labour’s support in the fight against the airlines and governments agencies which trample on their’ rights.

    Omar praised the NUATE executive for its achievements, urging the leaders and their members not to allow any management to infiltrate their ranks.

     

  • Labour slams govt over Diaspora housing scheme

    The organised labour has condemned the Federal Government’s initiative to assist Nigerians in the Diaspora to own houses at home.

    The Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria Mr Ya’u Kumo said in Washington, United States, that about 17 million Nigerians, living outside the country, desire to own houses at home, but had challenges, and that the government would help them achieve their dream.

    But the Acting General Secretary, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Emma Ugboaja, said though the plan is good, the housing problems of Nigerians at home should be addressed first.

    Ugboaja said: “Ya’u Kumo said about 17 million Nigerians, living outside the country, had the desire to own houses at home but had challenges.

    “It is a vision that should be executed when the government completes housing projects for those living in the country.’’

    He said it would be right for the government to satisfy the housing needs of Nigerians living at home first, since they were the primary contributors to the National Housing Scheme (NHS).

    He also said the mortgage bank was collaborating with the NLC in building houses for workers in Abuja.

    He noted that lack of sufficient accommodation had never stopped Nigerians living abroad from returning home.

    The President, Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association, Mr Tunde Abdulrahman,   said the plan was good. He advised that Nigerians abroad should contribute to the NHS.

    He regretted that many civil servants had contributed to the housing scheme for many years without being able to access loans to construct houses of their own.

    He urged the Federal Government to monitor such a scheme to ensure its effective implementation.

    The General Secretary, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, Mr Alade Lawal, said it was worrisome that up to 17 million Nigerians abroad needed houses.

    He advised the government to meet the housing needs of Nigerians at home.

    Lawal urged the government to verify the figure before building houses for those abroad.

  • Anambra 2014: Confusion as Ifeanyi Ubah dumps APGA for Labour

    Anambra 2014: Confusion as Ifeanyi Ubah dumps APGA for Labour

    •NLC, TUC deny adopting him as candidate

    •LP: He is just an aspirant

     

    There was confusion yesterday over the alleged adoption of business mogul, Dr Ifeanyi Ubah, as the governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Anambra state.

    Ubah, the owner of Capital Oil and Gas Plc, met with officials of the LP in his country home to finalise his defection from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

    It was learnt Ubah requested to use the LP platform to actualise his governorship ambition, a demand, sources said, received a massive support at the meeting.

    It was also gathered Ubah might be declaring for the LP this weekend.

    A source at the meeting said: “His posters had no party tag and he has approached our party to be allowed to be the governorship candidate.

    “We accepted him and we met on the procedure to do the declaration first for Labour Party before any other thing follows.

    ‘’He dumped APGA for our party and we are watching how things will turn out because I know he has been automatically adopted as our candidate.”

    The state chairman of Labour Party, Chief Sam Oaregbunam, confirmed the party met with Ubah but denied he had been adopted as the party’s candidate.

    Ubah, he said, has to go through the party’s primary, first as stipulated in the Electoral Act under the supervision of INEC before being declared as the candidate.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Anambra State chapter also distanced itself from the purported adoption.

    Its chairman, Comrade Patrick Obianyo, said that organised labour has not endorsed Ubah or any other candidate.

    According to him: ’’We are not Labour Party that was speculated to have endorsed him. We are the organised labour and not the Labour Party.

    The state chairman of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Justin Okoye, maintained the body cannot sell its stand on none partisanship for anything.

    ‘’We are workers and there is no way we would be partisan but we must be involved in making sure that the right person emerges as the governor of Anambra State.

    “There is no candidate for now but if a good candidate emerges from the Labour Party, we would support the candidate to become governor of Anambra State.”

  • Labour, govt bicker over dividends of democracy

    Labour, govt bicker over dividends of democracy

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has scored the Federal Government low on job creation and that for those in employment, job security is an issue. However, the Minister of Information and Communication, Mr Labaran Maku, disagrees. He said the Jonathan administration is doing well. DUPE OLAOYE-OSINKOLU reports.

    Union leaders have lamented the loss of jobs and the government’s inability to create new ones.

    The President, National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather And Non Mettalic Products Employees (NUCFRLANMPE), Comrade Boniface Isok, recalled how epileptic power supply killed many businesses.

    For example, this compelled the relocation of Michelin Tyre and Dunlop Tyre from Nigeria to South Africa and Ghana, he said.

    The relocation of these companies erased jobs, he said. He said the greatest challenge for the nation’s democracy is unemployment. He lamented the continued loss of jobs in the chemical sector, which has made his union lose many members.

    In their own assessment of democracy, civil servants under the aegis of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), spoke through their Secretary-General, Comrade Bashir Alade Lawal. They said the greatest challenge of democracy is the refusal of the ruling elite to play according to the rules.

    “The culture of impunity persists and the workers are not seen and regarded as one of the social partners that have a significant role to play in moving the country forward. Engaging government on issues affecting workers is becoming very difficult as our rulers feel reluctant to come to the negotiating table. They see themselves as sole proprietor of our common patrimony and anybody outside the clique, a stranger that should be kept at bay. That explains why most of the problems bedevilling the country are defying solutions,” said ASCSN.

    The President, Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said the greatest challenge of democracy is lack of its understanding by the political class. He said this is why many of them give in to greed and corruption.

    “Our nation is bedevilled with corruption and selfishness. Lack of unity within the rank and files. This has greatly affected governance, our legislators have not paid any attention to decent work tenets that can protect all workers but interested only in how to remain in office and make more money, labour has not gained much under the so called democracy and our legal systems. The oil and gas sector has done quite well, but lack of policy and political intrigues and policy cum agreement summersault has not allowed the industry to attain the desired result,” he said.

    The Minister of Information and Communication, Labaran Maku, however, disagreed with the labour leaders. He said the programme of the Transformation Agenda of Mr President is targeted at job creation, the economic environment and also social activities to create job for the youths and women.

    “Mr President has taken the bull by the horn. We believe that for our country to develop, we must create employment opportunities for the teeming unemployed youths. The programme of the Transformation Agenda of Mr President is targeted at job creation the economic environment and also social activities to create job for the youths and women.

    “In the first phase of the Community Services Women and Youth Employment Project, we have over 3,400 women and youths who were formerly unemployed but are now gainfully employed by the scheme with additional 2,000 more to join within the next few months and this is not going on in Delta State alone, but in all the 36 states of the federation, including the Federal Capital Territory. In the past 15 to 20 years, no government has been able to do this on a sustainable base. Now we have a president that is determined to tackle the challenges of unemployment.

    “This programme is also designed to solve problems at the community level, the community is also benefiting from the programme through community services, such as tree planting, traffic control, street cleaning and sanitation, among others.

    Also, the Labour Minister, Chief Emeka Wogu, also said the government has delivered on it promises. “In January 2011, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan promised to alleviate the impact of the fall out of the partial removal of fuel subsidy, he has fulfilled these promises. Evidence before us today confirm that he has done so through the Community Service, Women and Youth Employment (CSWYE) Project, one of the project components under the Social Safety Net Programme (SSNP), which is just one out of the eight programmes under the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P) of the Federal Government,” he said.

  • Wike’s group tackles labour leaders over visit to Amaechi

    Wike’s group tackles labour leaders over visit to Amaechi

    The Grassroots Democratic Initiative (GDI), a group backed by the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, has condemned the labour leaders in Rivers State, for visiting Governor Rotimi Amaechi and allegedly taking sides in the deepening crisis.

    GDI alleged that the labour leaders: Chief Chris Oruge, Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Rivers chapter; his counterpart of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Chika Onuegbu and the Chairman of the Joint Public Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC), Rivers chapter, Chukwu Emecheta, were acting Amaechi’s script.

    The President-General of the GDI, Bright Amaehule; its Secretary-General, Samuel Nwanosike; and the Chairman of the GDI in Obio/Akpor LGA of Rivers state, Collins Onunwon; yesterday at a news conference in Port Harcourt, accused the trio of playing to the gallery.

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Rivers chapter, through its Publicity Secretary, Jerry Needam, also yesterday distanced the main opposition party from last week’s solidarity visit and pledge of support by opposition parties in Rivers state to Amaechi.

    GDI said: “Oruge, Onuegbu and Emecheta, who claim to be the mouthpiece of the NLC, TUC and JPSNC members in Rivers state, are all relatives of Andrew Uchendu (a member of the House of Representatives from Rivers state), who is a known supporter of Amaechi.

    “It is not surprising that the relatives of Uchendu are acting the script of their master, Rt. Hon. Amaechi and some members of the Rivers House of Assembly.

    “It is indeed shameful and an apparent show of hypocrisy and incompetence on the part of the trio, that in October, November and December 2012, when the monthly allocations of Obio/Akpor LG council were seized by Governor Amaechi, without due process and in clear breach of the law, the self-styled labour leaders did not make any comment.

    “The sole and flimsy reason for the seizure of the allocations was that the Obio/Akpor LG council did not participate in the monthly environmental sanitation exercise of September 2012. The labour leaders kept quiet, when the affected workers were NLC members and worst hit financially.

    “It is clear from the acts and actions of the self-styled leaders of the NLC, TUC and JPSNC in Rivers state that they are engaging in partisan politics, which the civil service rules abhor.

    “The members of GDI are calling on the members of the Rivers House of Assembly to immediately rescind the suspension of the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LG, Prince Timothy Nsirim; his deputy, Solomon Eke; and the 17 councillors, to make for law, peace, tranquility and development of the area.

    The Wike-backed group called on the police in Rivers state, not to be deterred or distracted by the cheap blackmail of the Speaker of Rivers House of Assembly, Otelemaba Dan Amachree, but to continue to do their constitutional duties, especially of protection of lives and property.

    The ACN said: The members of the CNPP have jettisoned their role and appear to have given in for a pot of porridge. Participants in the visit are members of parties already deregistered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “ACN believes that rather than act in a manner that showcases them as a frustrated lot by these already-deregistered political parties, leaders of the group would have demonstrated a better posture by calling on the Rivers state government to put its house in order, to forestall the rascality of the officials.

    “It is important that we state in clear terms that the ACN, as a responsible and focused party, was not part of the delegation to the Rivers State Government House, to declare support for Governor Rotimi Amaechi, in PDP’s internal crisis in the state.

    “We state clearly that we (the ACN) will not and never associate ourselves with any of such moves that negate the essence of our corporate existence in the democratic dispensation in the state.”

     

  • ACN hails Aregbesola, labour

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Osun State has hailed Governor Rauf Aregbesola and labour leaders for resolving their dispute amicably.

    The party said it was happy with the public demonstration of the rapprochement during the May Day celebration in Osogbo, the state capital.

    It said the event turned out to be a carnival of love and solidarity. In a statement yesterday by its Publicity Director, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, the ACN said the May Day celebration left no one in doubt that the governor and labour leaders have agreed to work together for the state’s progress.

    It said the demonstration of love by the labour leaders was evident of the maturity shown by both parties in arriving at a consensus.

    ACN said: “This peaceful, mature and responsible approach to conflict resolution is what Osun needs to consolidate on the massive reconstruction work Aregbesola and his team are undertaking.

    “The carnival-like rally is also a virtual endorsement of Aregbesola’s hard work and positive leadership, which labour leaders have acknowledged as unprecedented since the state’s creation.

    “This should put the opposition on notice that the 2014 governorship election is not going to be a contest but an endorsement by the people of Osun.”

  • ARG lauds cordial relationship between Aregbesola, labour

    The Afenifere Renewal Group (ARG) in Osun State has lauded the cordial relationship between the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration and labour unions.

    After its monthly meeting in Osogbo, the state capital, at the weekend, ARG said the labour unions’ support for the government showed that the governor was performing.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kola Olabisi, ARG said with the cordial relationship between labour and the government, the state will continue to witness unprecedented development.

    The group pledged its support for the Aregbesola administration, adding that it has positively touched all sectors within its short time in office.

    It said: “While some governors were booed during the May Day celebration, Aregbesola’s popularity soared because of his people-oriented programmes, which transcend the boundaries of partisan politics.

    “We hail the government for attaining this rare feat in labour relations and urge labour leaders to be wary of disgruntled and selfish politicians, whose stock in trade is to destroy any working arrangement.”

  • Focus on workers, group urges labour

    Focus on workers, group urges labour

    The leadership of Society of Women in Taxation has urged labour leaders to concentrate more on tackling issues of casualisation  of employees instead of opposing the government polices.

    National Chairperson of the association, Mrs.Justina Okoror gave the advice yesterday when she addressed journalists on the coming symposium organised by the Society of Women in Taxation.

    She argued that by focusing more on the government policies and paying little or attention to issues of casualisation of workers, the leadership of labour unions have endorsed casualisation of employees by various employers by their inaction.

    She said: “ Labour is not efficient and effective in  casualisation policy. Casualisation policy is still very rampant in banks, oil and gas, and other sectors. Casualisation has permeated into a lot of industries yet labour does not see reason to challenge  this trend, but it will oppose government on every policy that don’t have bearing on employees.”

    Mrs. Okoror said her organsiation is concerned about the role of women in  economic growth, but cautioned that “there can never be meaningful  growth in an atmosphere where people are short changed.”

    She said the body is organising  a symposium on the role of women in enhancing revenue generation and utilisation for economic growth.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Fuel price hike: Labour mobilises for April protest

    The stage is set for a showdown with the Federal Government over its planned increase in the prices of petroleum products, as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and civil society groups have started mobilising for protest.

    Oil workers and civil servants have also vowed to join the organised labour.

    The NLC and TUC have set aside Wednesday, April 10 for a nationwide mass protest. The Labour centres claimed to be alarmed by the government’s uncaring attitude to pensioners. They lamented that even after it had been established that the custodian of pension funds stole huge amount of the money, he was given a light punishment and option of meagre fine.

    TUC President-General, Peter Esele, said the decision for mass protest was taken at the Congress’ National Executive Council meeting.

    In separate telephone conversations with The Nation, oil workers under the aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas workers (NUPENG) called for the Finance Minister’s resignation, saying that is the only way out of the subsidy crisis.

    NUPENG President, Comrade Igwe Achese, said the Minister has failed the nation as she has told Nigerians contradicting stories on subsidy. She should, therefore, resign if things must be done properly, he stressed.

    He recalled that the Finance Minister last year claimed that N1.2 trillion had fraudulently gone into subsidy, stressing that the government will continue to pay subsidy until all the nation’s refineries are repaired and made to work at optimal capacity, and all the depots rehabilitated.

    The senior civil servants under the umbrella of Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) said they would resist a new increase in petroleum products prices with “everything humanly possible”

    The Secretary-General, Comrade Bashir Alade Lawal, said: “We are preparing to meet the government for upward review of salaries, now that they are proposing fuel price increase, it’s like they are telling the workers to go and commit suicide. We are not going to accept that.”

    Senior oil workers under the aegis of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) also condemned the proposed increase in fuel price. PENGASSAN President, Comrade Babatunde Ogun, said: “It is not possible for government to increase fuel price now. There are many unanswered questions, ranging from subsidy claims, refineries, Petroleum Industry Bill and other conditions in our laws. Government need further engagement of all stakeholders on the project.”

  • Labour gives Jang strike notice

    Labour gives Jang strike notice

    Academic and non-academic staff of Plateau State-owned higher institutions have given the government a notice of strike from next week.

    Workers of the six tertiary institutions have threatened to embark on an indefinite strike from February 22 if their salary arrears are not paid.

    The Chairman of the workers’ union, Comrade Victor Dawurung, spoke yesterday at a news conference in Jos.

    He said the strike has become inevitable having exhausted the processes to resolve the issues with their employers.

    The union said the government is silent on the 27-month salary arrears owed it, stressing that it is a major issue causing discontent. It added that it has appealed to the government several times to no avail.

    Dawurung said: “We are worried that while we are trying to address the issues between us and the government, Governor Jang has gone ahead to merge the College of Arts, Science and Technology, Kurgwi with the Plateau State University, Bokkos.

    “We view this as a setback in education because this institution prepares students for university matriculation examination and award certificates to them. It is not a Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE) coaching centre as the world is made to believe.

    “We doubt government’s intention in the merger plan. The institution is a product of law and it should be allowed to subsist until such law is repealed or amended.

    “We also view the merger as government’s plan to reduce the workforce of the institution and lay off our members. We appeal to the government to have a rethink and respect the institution.”

    The Chairman, who also frowned at the declining standard of education in the state, decried what he described as the illegal adjustment of the new salary table by the government, which he said was haphazardly generated from the salary table received from the National Incomes, Salaries and Wages Commission through the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE). He added that the abnormality had not been corrected despite their pleas.

    The union urged the government to resolve the lingering issues to avoid a strike.