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Tag: Nigeria Labour Congress

  • NLC urges Buhari to expedite action on minimum wage

    THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to expedite action on the proposed new national Minimum Wage by transmitting it to the National Assembly early.

    NLC General Secretary Dr. Peter Eson-Ozo stated this yesterday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

    Eson-Ozo said the tripartite committee on the New National Minimum Wage had concluded its meetings and a report of N30,000 was agreed upon as the new minimum wage for workers.

    He said: “The report has been submitted to Mr. President and what we expect now from Mr. President is to do justice to that report, by quickly raising an executive bill on the new National Minimum Wage.

    “And when that bill gets to the National Assembly, we want to assure Nigerian workers that we will be ready to engage them constructively,” he said.

    The NLC General Secretary explained that there was no controversy over the agreed amount, as N30, 000 was the agreement reached during the negotiations by members of the committee.

    “We all signed up on the N30, 000. So, why should there be any controversy?

    The Tripartite Committee on the new National Minimum Wage concluded its negotiation process on November 5 and submitted the report to Mr. President on November 6.

    Before then, the Federal Government had offered to pay N24, 000, while the organised labour had agreed with the Organised Private Sector (OPS) to stand on N30, 000 as the new National Minimum Wage.

    President Buhari while receiving the committee report said “In a way, both arguments are valid. I want to assure you all that we will immediately put in place the necessary machinery that will close out these open areas.”

  • Minimum Wage: Nigerian workers deserve a better deal—Victor Oye

    Dr Victor Oye, National Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) on Wednesday in Awka said Nigerian Workers deserve all that they could get due to their contributions to development of the country.

    Oye, made the assertion in an interview with our reporter, said the economic reality of the country had made workers the “weeping boys” of the system.

    He urged the Federal Government to not only enhance their pay but improve on their working conditions.

    The APGA chairman commended the quality of negotiations between government, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Organised Private Sector that led to aversion of the threatened industrial action.

    Oye commended the Anambra Government for paying salaries on the 25th every month and for being among the first states to offer to pay N30, 000 minimum wage

    “Nigerian workers deserve a better deal considering the harsh economic atmosphere in the country; they have always been at the receiving end.

    “That the Federal Government is able to avert the strike brought a huge relief to Nigerians and averted what would have come with consequences of embarrassing proportion.

    “APGA urges the federal and state governments to take the welfare of workers seriously.

    “They must come up with a programme on how to develop the cognitive and latent talents of workers to make them more productive,” he said.

    Read Also:I’m committed to new minimum wage – Buhari

    On his part, Senator Victor Umeh, representing Anambra Central at the National Assembly, said he considered the N30,000 a meager amount that could not lift any home out if poverty.

    Umeh argued that governors could pay the amount the NLC was asking for if they could appropriate the state resources efficiently and be more innovative.

    “Nigerian workers do not have a living wage; we cannot continue to pretend and say there is no money when a lot of people are living in affluence.

    “They deserve living wage, even the N30, 000 they are demanding is not a living wage, government should know how to manage its resources to enable it pay workers,” he said.

    Umeh thanked workers for suspending the strike that was to begin on Nov. 6 and expressed the hope that all parties would respect the terms reached during the negotiations.

  • Minimum wage: FG, Labour should find middle ground, says Saraki

    Senate President, Abubakar Bukola Saraki, on Monday appealed to the Federal Government and the organized labour to take steps to find a middle ground to avert the looming industrial action by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) over new minimum wage.

    Saraki also urged Government and the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) to work together in order to avert the proposed workers’ strike in the interest of the country.

    The Senate President in a statement by his Special Adviser (Media and Publicity), Yusuph Olaniyonu, asked the two sides to demonstrate sensitivity and concern for the plight of ordinary Nigerians who are already battling with the harsh economic conditions in the country.

    He expressed appreciation for the patience displayed by the labour leaders as he noted that the issue of the new minimum wage could have been resolved long before now.

    Saraki said, “My Appeal is for the two sides to immediately move fast, shift from their extreme positions and create a new middle ground in the negotiations for the new minimum wage. The shift in positions can be done even before the period of the commencement of the proposed strike action so that we do not further create tension within the economy.

    “At this point, the interest of the people should be paramount in our minds. Any labour strike will cause inconvenience and discomfort to our people. While the government and labour are representing the interest of the people, it is important to also ensure we avoid any action that will not show sensitivity and sensibility to the plight of the people”, Saraki stated.

  • NLC urges FG to accelerate implementation of new minimum wage

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged  the Federal Government (FG) to accelerate the implementation of the new minimum wage proposed by the tripartite committee on the issue.

    NLC National President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, made the call at a news briefing on Wednesday in Lafia.

    Wabba, who was in Lafia for the ground breaking of the affordable housing estate by the Federal Mortgage Bank, said the tripartite committee had already finished its assignment.

    “The committee has already completed its assignment and had to submit the reports first to federal government onward action.

    “So, we expect the FG to accelerate the process of implementation and transmit same to the National Assembly for other legislative actions,” Wabba stated.

    The NLC boss, however, commended the contributions of the private sector throughout the duration of the committee work.

    Read Also:NLC: ‘Fed Govt to announce new minimum wage soon’

    Wabba said that the union would not make the agreed amount public until all the processes were completed.

    He assured Nigerian workers that the union would not relent until success was achieved.

    Meanwhile, the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige, has said  that no agreement has  been reached on the exact amount that should be paid to workers as new  minimum wage.

    Speaking after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, Ngige said this was because the proposals ranged from N30,000 by the organised labour to N20,000 by state governments and  N25,000 by organised private sector.

  •  Air Peace claims loss of N60m as NLC strike disrupts operations

    Air Peace said yesterday that its flight operations were disrupted by members of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) at the General Aviation Terminal (GAT) wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Ikeja, Lagos for more than four hours

    The airline, according to its Chairman, Allen Onyema, lost more than N60 million as revenue that would have accrued from the disrupted flights.

    Onyema said although the NLC and its members have the right to agitate for minimum wage, it was wrong to hide under such guise to damage the airline’s property at the terminal and disrupt the movement of passengers going about their normal business.

    He said it was wrong for the protesting unions to single out the carrier while others were allegedly allowed to fly.

    He said the negative impact of such action would spill over and affect the flight rotations of the carrier.

    Speaking in an interview in Lagos, Onyema said: “In the early hours of Friday, the NLC led their troop to the GAT and disrupted our flight operations for four hours.

    “This led to thousands of passengers being stranded and resulting in the loss of revenue running into over N60 million.

    “We think this was a selective action. They pushed down our computers and started fighting our staff. This is not good for the health of the industry. “

    He however called on government to support indigenous carriers by providing operational infrastructure to eliminate flight delays because of limited screening and scanning machines at the terminals.

    “If many airports have air field lighting, airlines could operate into them any time of the day. Through this, the aircraft would be in the skies with the assurance that it could land at any airport any time of the day with the right landing aids.”

    Onyema said government should be conscious of the fact that good airports assist to drive hub status, and not the wrongly held view that it is airlines that develop hubs.

    He berated aviation authorities for not allocating space to Air Peace for lounges at airports preparatory to its international operations.

    “The airport authority will not allocate space to us at the airports for passengers lounge, but it is giving such out to foreign carriers. Is this how to support Nigerian carriers?” he queried.

  • Labour strike: There is total compliance – NLC

    Shuts down Lagos state secretariat, chase bank workers out of office

     

    Civil Servants working at the Lagos state Secretariat, Alausa, Ikeja could not gain access into their offices on Thursday as the in and out gates to the secretariat were shut and blocked by officials of Labour Unions  that commenced a 7-day warning strike over the government’s foot-dragging on a new minimum wage for workers.

    The Labour unions who were said to have arrived the premises as early as 5a.m. on Thursday morning blocked the in and out entrances of the secretariat stopping workers who came for the day’s work from gaining entrance into the premises.

    The action is to enforce compliance on the strike called by the trade unions on the unresolved issue of minimum wage for workers.

    Parked conspicuously in front of both gates were branded vehicles of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC and other affiliate unions to NLC and TUC with Labour officials and civil servants who had reported for the day’s job on standby. There was no going in or coming out of the premises.

    Speaking with reporters, the Lagos state chairman of NLC, Comrade Idowu Adelakun said the strike is long overdue, adding that “everybody is prepared for the strike.”

    Read Also: Minimum wage: Meeting with labour not deadlocked – Minister

    He further disclosed that they will not leave the premises until around 2pm. and that they will register their presence in the premises for the seven days duration of the warning strike to ensure that no destruction of property and compliance.

    Asked if their presence at the secretariat was to enforce compliance, Adelakun said, it is to ensure that some bad people don’t take advantage of the strike to go inside the premises and start spoiling government property.

    “When we call strike like this and we are not here some people may decide to go inside and start spoiling government property and as leaders we are responsible enough.

    “All this properties are our properties, if people destroy them today they are still going to use tax payers money to rebuild them, so that is why we are here as leaders to make sure that the protest is peaceful and make sure no way for people to do otherwise.”

    Justifying the strike Adelakun said, “The Federal Government set up a committee on minimum wage in 2017, even Minister of Labour promised that by September they would start paying and September is gone, the tripartite committee has not been able to come up with any report, if we don’t fight now when are we going to fight? He queried.

    He disclosed that the Labour officials have monitored the banks and sent workers out from their offices, Coca Cola and many companies around Alausa were not allowed to open for business.

    “We only have skeletal services in hospitals because of the nature of their work, there is a total compliance”, Adelakun said.

    Describing the minimum wage of N18,000 as slave wage, he said the constitution stipulates a review of minimum wage every five years and the review is long overdue. “N18,000 minimum wage cannot take you anywhere in today Nigeria”, he said.

  • Colleges of education shutdown as COEASU joins NLC strike

    Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has joined the indefinite warning strike called by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).

    The union cited failure of the Federal Government to implement the new minimum wage as reason for embarking on the industrial action.

    National President of COEASU, Comrade Nuhu Ogirima, in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday, decried the federal government’s insensitivity to Nigerian workers’ welfare and the pathetic plight of colleges of education.

    He explained that the union joined the strike because it had become evident that both the federal and state governments were not ready to solve the challenges faced by colleges of education in the country.

    Ogirima said: “While the union strives to stimulate her members towards re-dedicating themselves to the selfless service of  humanity, notwithstanding  the  conditions  of  the  work-place  and  lingering work related challenges,  it  has  become  evident  that dialogue  and diplomacy  are  alien  to government’s  lexicon  of  labour  engagement, if  any,  for neither  the Federal  nor  State Governments  is  ready  to  meaningfully  solve the myriad of challenges besetting the COEs.

    Read Also: NLC condemns killing of health workers in North East

    “The Union is quite perturbed because of the grave implication of the foregoing evident neglect on the real training and development practices relating to basic education advancements in the country, since the colleges of education system provide the manpower needs for the foundation level of education, suffices to state that a good foundation is the basis of a sound edifice.“The refusal of the respective governments and various authorities to expeditiously address the issues would be sure recipe for the union to invoke measures that would impede the smooth running of the entire colleges of education system. Ultimately, the peaceful and congenial atmosphere for  which  the  colleges  of education  have  been  known  would  be difficult  to guarantee.”

    He noted that while the organised labour had cause to support the anti-corruption fight of the present administration, government has refused to reciprocate the patriotic understanding by choosing to renege on the much-touted minimum wage review.

    According to him, as an affiliate of NLC, COEASU had no choice besides the call for strike by the leadership of the labour union, adding that it is expedient to also invoke their rights “to take further action against the crass insensitivity of government, at both State and Federal levels, to the plight of the Colleges of Education.”

  • Ekiti workers to join nationwide strike

    Labour unions in Ekiti State have directed workers in both public and private sectors to stay at home from Wednesday to press home for a new minimum wage.

    The state councils of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) said on Tuesday that the strike will be total.

    The state NLC Chairman, Raymond Adesanmi and his TUC counterpart, Odunayo Adesoye, said the directive affects government workers, including commercial drivers, Okada operators, banks, market men and women should stay off businesses.

    The TUC boss, who spoke on behalf of the labour leaders, said the strike action will be total in Ekiti, saying the body had already entered into agreement with Civil Society Organisations to ensure its success.

    Read Also: Ekiti PDP aspirants ‘vandalise party’s secretariat’

    He said the leaderships of the labour centers in Ekiti had agreed to work together and ensure the success of the nationwide strike, which begins 12 midnight on Tuesday.

    Adesoye said:“The strike action in Ekiti commencing from tomorrow will be total. It is going to be a total paralysis, because both public and private sectors will be affected.

    “The banks, commercial drivers, Okada operators and sole business owners will participate in this strike. We have reached out to the Civil Society Organisations to ensure will mobilize for the strike.

    “We are not going to shy away from picketing areas that fail to conform with our directive as given from Abuja.”

  • Nigeria needs $3tr to bridge infrastructural deficit, says Wabba

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba has said Nigeria will need about $3 trillion in the next 26 years to bridge the infrastructural gap in country.

    The National President of National Union of Civil Engineering Construct, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), Comrade Amaechi Asugwuni, attributed the dearth of infrastructure in the country to massive corruption and what he described as irresponsibility of the federal, state, and local governments.

    Speaking at the Infrastructural Summit and 40th anniversary of the National Union of Civil Engineering Construct, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW) yesterday in Abuja, Wabba said the importance of  infrastructural development as a nation cannot be overestimated.

    He said the country was suffering from several infrastructural deficit that has affected the various sector of the national economy, pointing out that sectors that have suffered mostly includes the energy, transport, railways, roads, inland waterways, education, housing, agricultural sector and the information communication technology, among others.

    According to him, the World Economy Forum state that every dollar spend on infrastructure has a potential to generate between five to ten per cent of economic growth and therefore this is very central and key.

    “This potential is important as it has been estimated that Nigeria needs at least three trillion us dollars in the next 26 years to bridge the infrastructural gap in the country. As this will transform our vast potentials into concrete social economy tangibles and this will also require about 100 billion dollars capital investment annually, ‘’he said.

    He lamented that despite the enormous resources available to the country, Nigeria has not be able to attain to its potentials as it concerns infrastructure in the country.

    He said “for instance if you look at our population of closed to 200 million and we are still struggling to keep our electricity generation at less than 4000 megawatt while South Africa are at 55million megawatt.

    “No doubt that is why our industries cannot operate at full potential and there is no way we can address the challenging issue of unemployment in the country. So, infrastructure is the key to addressing multifaceted development, from the issues of poverty, unemployment, insecurity.

    “Therefore your union is very central  and that I am very delighted that you chose this theme to look at infrastructural development in our country and how to work the talk, ‘’Wabba said.

    Also Prof. Stephen Ocheni, Minister of State, Labour and Employment said policies of the present administration were gear towards addressing the infrastructural deficits in the country.

    Ocheni said that infrastructure was the key to national development as it would address the issue of unemployment, security, among others, adding that the lack of infrastructural development in the country was due inappropriate policies and lack of continuity by the past administration.

    “I want to assure you that the present administration attach great importance to capital projects and is determined to continue with viable  projects and so we are vigorously pursuing it, ‘’he said.

  • NLC to Nigerians: Interrogate political spending

    Says government must implement ICPC report on bail out fund

    President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said that Nigerians should interrogate the sources of funds used by aspiring politicians to buy forms at exorbitant rate to contest the forth coming general elections in the country.

    Wabba said in an interview in Abuja that all aspirants, should be made to tell Nigerians how they made they money with which they are buying nomination forms to contest public office and how much tax they have paid, asking rhetorically “those who borrowed money to buy the form, how do they intend to pay back the money they borrowed?

    Wabba who was reacting to the Presidential directive to state to account for how the Paris Club refund released to them were utilized before being given the last tranche said about 80 of those displaying wealth and buying forms at exorbitant rate would disappear if they are subjected to such interrogation.

    He also said that the ICPC report on the utilization of the firs5 trance of bailout fund should be revisited and implemented to the latter, stressing that action on the Paris Club refund should not just end with mere words

    Wabba said “We have said so clearly. If you want to entrench the principle of good governance, accountability and transparency must be out watch word. A lot of stories of how the other trenches have been utilized have come out.

    “Infact, EFCC openly make some allegations and I have seen them also on the social media where it was being alleged that some people used the money to buy hotels in Lagos, and some transferred some to bureau de change.

    “We cannot sweep those issues under the carpet and think that the issue of corruption and diversion of public funds will be addressed. That is clearly our challenge in this country, and not lack of resources. The truth is that this country has enormous resources, but they are diverted.

    “The fight against corruption cannot be limited to the Centre. It must go to the hinterland, to the local government, the states and even the private sector. I have said it repeatedly that during the Economic meltdown between 2008 and 2010 that was the period we reviewed our minimum wage.

    Read Also: New Minimum wage not ready – NLC President

    “In the midst of economic meltdown, Obama reviewed the minimum wage because he believed that was what was going to kick start the economy. Thank God we are out of recession and so, this is the right time to make sure that we empower the people and not christened as the poverty Centre of the world. If workers are not empowered. We have a pool of the working poor. That is out position and we commend the statement.

    “It should not just end as a statement, but should be followed up to its logical conclusion. There should be action and we should be able to know those states that have done such things.

    “ICPC did a good job on the first trenches of bailout fund that was released and came up with a report, disclosing those states where those funds were diverted. We have called on the government and the anti graft agencies to make sure that the report is followed up and those people brought to book. But nothing has happened.

    “We have states that did not access the bailout and yet are paying salaries, Pension and gratuity as and when due. I give the example of Jigawa where ever I go to. So, it is not about paucity of funds.

    “Look at what is happening in the polity today. In my state along, more than 25 people bought form to contest for governorship of one party. That is over N500 million. Let us start from there and x-ray all of them.

    “Let them tell us their sources of income, the tax they have paid and how they generated such an interest and made money to buy those forms. If we do that, I can tell you that 80 percent of them will disappear. We should find the sources of income of all those who bought form worth over N20 million and the tax he has paid on his income.

    “Clearly speaking, it is a step in the right direction and it is something we can address. The starting point is where we are now. Everybody purchasing form, let us interrogate their sources of wealth and the report made public. Some people will run away or you should be able to tell us where and when you made so much profit and the business or farm where you made your money. If we do that, we would have sanitize the system before they get into public office.

    “If you borrow money to purchase form, how do you think they will pay. That is why the system is the way it is and we have canvassed for good governance openly.

    “So, it is a step in the right direction and it should not end there. We should know the outcome and how many states have been able to meet up with that requirement.”