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Tag: Peter Ozo-Eson

  • Don’t tax minimum wage, NLC tells FG

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has demanded amendment to tax laws to exempt income below N30,000 from being taxed.

    It also said the yet- to- be implemented national minimum wage should not be taxed.

    This is one of the motions adopted by the 12 National Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Labour Congress in Abuja.

    In a motion submitted by the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria at the plenary session of conference, the union argued there was ‘twin assault on the real income of Nigerian workers caused by unrestrained devaluation of the naira and high rate of inflation’.

    It also expressed concerns the process for the new minimum wage was taking too long, calling on the parent body, NLC, to discuss strategies and plans for effective implementation of the new minimum wage particularly at the state level.

    General Secretary of the union, Comrade Issa Aremu, said it was important to put pressure on the Federal Inland Revenue Service to raise the tax bar so that the N30,000 minimum wage would fall below taxable income, while also calling for tax holidays for some categories of Nigerian workers.

    Read Also: NLC… New tenure, old problems

    He said, “Now that we have raised the minimum wage to N30,000, we must impress it on the FIRS to raise tax bar so that the new minimum wage will be protected. If you tax minimum wage of N30,000, we may as well go back to N25,000 or N27,000 by default. The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives raised the point and I think labour must push the agenda to protect the new minimum wage.

    “The N30, 000 is actually a compromised amount from N56,000 earlier proposed so it must be protected. If the Federal Government can give 10 year tax holiday to companies, why not give the same to workers? Given the collapse of income, today, Nigerian workers deserve tax holidays.

    “We are not asking for this because we consider our job as charitable, what workers have in their pocket is what will turn the economy around. That is what we will use to purchase goods in the market and pay rent. For economic recovery, it is good for workers to have sustainable purchasing power or disposable income that is off the tax hook.”

    General Secretary of the NLC, Peter Ozo-Eson, who appeal for protection of the new minimum wage, said that the income tax law needed to be amended to protect workers purchasing power.

    Ozo-Eson said, “Given that the N30,000 we agreed as a compromised minimum wage is so low, ideally, it should not be taxed but I believe that the correct way to do it is to amend the income tax law in order to raise the exemption bar if the N30,000 will fall within.

    “The law should be amended to ensure that the minimum wage level is below the taxable income. Under the present law, if you earn N18, 000 a month, your tax is zero.

    “There is a tax table but with N30,000, under the existing exemption guideline, there will be some little tax because it will be slightly above the exemption tax.

    “What needs to be done is to have an adjustment to the schedule so that the exemption is placed above the minimum wage.”

     

  • Minimum wage: We have not declared strike, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday put to rest speculations of a nationwide strike action which is supposed to begin on Tuesday, saying it has not called for any strike action to protest the delay in transmitting the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly.

    General Secretary of Congress, Dr.  Peter Ozo-Eson said in a statement that what the congress has called for was a day of protest and mobilization across the states of the federation to sensitize Nigerians and workers on the minimum wage issue.

    The NLC scribe said the National Day of protest does not translate into a strike action, adding that whenever labour decides on a date for a national strike, Nigerians will be informed accordingly.

    The statement reads “It has come to our attention that some section of the news media has largely misrepresented our action plan in reaction to the delay in transmitting the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee on a new National Minimum Wage to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Read Also: NLC seeks review of tax policy

    “It should be recalled that the National Executive Council of NLC met on 17th of December last year and directed that we hold nationwide mobilization of workers and our allies if by 31st December 2018 the bill on the National Minimum Wage has yet to be sent to the National Assembly to be passed as an Act of Parliament.

    “We immediately announced then that on Tuesday, 8th January 2019, there will be a nationwide mass mobilization and protests simultaneously across all states in Nigeria. This does not translate to a strike.

    “It is on record that each time we had cause to embark on a national strike, we say so publicly without any equivocation. We still don’t understand where the story about a strike commencing tomorrow came from.

    “Already, all our State Councils, affiliate unions and allies in other pro people mass organizations now popularly referred to as Civil Society Organizations have been fully informed and mobilized to ensure the success of tomorrow’s mass protests in all the states and the Federal Capital Territory.

    “When a date is decided for the commencement of a strike subsequently, we will inform the public appropriately.”

  • 45 percent of Nigerian workers are casual workers

    Says NLC wants Security overhaul

     

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Wednesday that about 45 percent of workers in the country are operating as casual workers with employers in the banking as well as oil and gas sector the major culprit and asked the government not to do anything that will further compound the current precarious employment situation in the country.

    The congress also asked the government to overhaul the nation’s security architecture to deal with emerging security threats that are threatening to stifle the current economic recovery and growth especially after the last recession.

    Speaking at the 61st Annual General meeting of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), President of Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said Organised Labour will soon visit those employers of Labour that specialized in subjecting Nigerians to unhealthy Labour practices.

    In his address read by the General Secretary of Congress, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, the congress said that “a Report by the Campaign for Democratic Workers Rights, 45% of Nigeria’s workforce operates as casual workers. Many employers in the downstream oil and gas and banking sub sectors still indulge in labour casualization. For such employers, we assure you that we will soon be at your doorsteps. We will dare you! We shall win”

    The congress asked the federal government to thread carefully on the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (ACFTA) and ensure robust consultations with labour and employers before ratifying the ACFTA.

    It said that the government should ensure that smuggling and false declarations on countries of origin do not stifle local competitiveness of Nigerian businesses if ACFTA is eventually ratified.

    The NLC also calls on government to “overhaul our security architecture to deal with emerging security threats that are threatening to stifle the current economic recovery and growth especially after the last recession.

    “Many businesses have been shut down in many of the flash point communities as many innocent Nigerians are forced to flee from their homes and take up residence in Internally Displaced Persons Camps scattered all over the country.

    “The recent resurgence of Boko Haram insurgency also needs to be tackled. While we commend the Nigerian Armed Forces for the sacrifice and commitment to restore normalcy and peace in different troubled spots in our country, we warn of the dire consequences of allowing the current gloomy security situation in Nigeria to relapse into a political recession.”

    The congress said while NECA which is the umbrella body of employers in the country has a strong bond with Nigerian workers, there are still a few employers who have refused to be on the same page with the rest of employers in taking the issue of workers’ rights and entitlements seriously.

    The congress said: “Just last week, the Nigeria Labour Congress and its civil society allies took on MTN over several and severe anti-workers policies. It is unfortunate that organized labour was forced to adopt the strategy of picketing against MTN.

    Read Also: NLC pickets MTN office in Kano

    “For more than five years now, the NLC has been trying to make MTN understand the need to allow its workers to unionize Our position is that MTN cannot reap so much profits from our country and still treat our constitution and labour laws with disdain.

    “MTN, unlike its operations elsewhere, has refused to allow its employees the freedom to join trade unions. Efforts by well meaning Nigerians including the leadership of NECA to make MTN realize that it cannot continue to break our laws without consequences failed.

    “It is unfortunate that MTN has chosen to be the face of corporate rascality in Nigeria. The Nigeria Labour Congress wishes to advise MTN that it’s poorly thought out script of “industrial apartheid” has died on arrival.

    “Having fought from the frontline in the struggle for Nigeria’s independence and having resisted apartheid and neo-colonialism in South Africa and other parts of the Global South, organized labour in Nigeria will remain unwavering in its commitment to uproot every vestige of modern day industrial slavery as being championed by MTN.

    “It is very important that we sound a note of warning that last week’s picketing of MTN offices nationwide is only a first service of notice. If MTN refuses to heed the voice of reason and chooses to trudge along a perfidious path, it can be rest assured that Nigerian workers will adopt every legitimate means within its reach to ensure that workers locked up in its concentration camps are freed sooner rather than later.

    “MTN is not alone in the practice of casualization of labour and anti-unionization. We wish to remind all employers that our laws allow all workers to exercise their freedom of association to belong to unions of their choice in line with the provisions of ILO Convention 87 and Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “Casual workers in our workforce operate under very precarious conditions with near total denial of the benefits associated with permanent and decent work. Nigerian workers can no longer offer their labour to slave drivers whose only interest is profit maximization and capital mobility.

    “I wish to reiterate the commitment of organized labour to keep open our warm hands of fellowship to NECA especially given the commitment of many of your members to harmonious industrial relations. We assure you of the commitment of Nigerian workers to continue to give you their best efforts knowing full well that we are all partners in progress for the good of our country, profitable businesses and the betterment of the lives of millions of Nigerian workers who are the hands that turn the wheels of prosperity.

    “The Nigeria Labour Congress will continue to stand by NECA in ensuring that we foster a suitable environment for businesses to thrive. It is in this wise that the Nigeria Labour Congress has always taken up strong advocacy and campaigns for laws and policies that improve the ease of doing business.

    “We will continue to work with our affiliate unions to ensure that high-handed taxes and tariffs by government are re-negotiated to enable businesses to thrive, ensure workers retain their employment and for government to enjoy sustained revenue.

    “Currently, the Nigeria Labour Congress is taking up the issue of the recent 500% hike in the excise duty on alcohol, spirit and tobacco. We are working with our affiliate union in the food, beverages and tobacco sector, the National Union of Food Beverages and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE), to engage the Federal Ministry of Finance and the National Assembly on this issue.

    “We have already submitted a memorandum and made appearances together with NUFBTE at a Public Hearing by the Nigerian Senate on the issue of the hike.

    “The Nigeria Labour Congress has adopted a traditional posture against neo-liberal tendencies of successive governments in Nigeria which we believe is extremely hurtful and deleterious to our local enterprises and employers of labour.

    “The NLC has also been proactive and vocal on the need for government to improve on critical national infrastructure. It would be foolhardy to continue to depend on generators to run our economy and expect robust competitiveness and sustained growth. The truth is that we cannot continue to operate a 19th century infrastructure and expect to experience a 21st century economy.”

  • NLC vows to resist ‘backdoor’ removal of fuel subsidy

    NLC vows to resist ‘backdoor’ removal of fuel subsidy

    The Nigeria Labour Congress on Tuesday warned the Federal Government against removing subsidy on petroleum products through the back door, saying organised labour will resist such move by government.

    In a statement signed by its General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, the NLC also asked the government to immediately constitute the board of the Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) which has the sole legal responsibility to fix prices of petroleum products.

    The Minister of State for Petroleum, Ibe Kachukwu was quoted as saying that the government will stop paying subsidy on petroleum product in 2016, while prices of petrol will be fixed at N85 per liter.

    The congress said what the government was planning was to remove subsidy through the back door, adding that any price fixed for the products now by the minister will be illegal since only the PPPRA has the right to fix prices.

    In the statement titled: “We will resist removal of fuel subsidy through the back door,” the NLC said: “In the past few weeks, we have heard discordant tunes from government officials and chieftains of the ruling APC on what the future portends for the prices of petroleum products and the management of the subsidy scheme.

    “Party chieftains who supported and encouraged the massive protests against subsidy removal in 2012 are now preaching the inevitability of subsidy removal. The honourable Minister of State for Petroleum first announced that come next year the price of petrol will revert to ₦97 per litre and that subsidy will be phased out.

    “Two days thereafter, he denied this and stated that what he said was that the price will operate within a band of ₦87 to ₦97 and that this did not mean removing the subsidy. The same minister now said that the price of petrol will now be ₦85 in January signifying the deregulation of the sector.

    “These vacillations and flip flops are, in our view, designed to confuse Nigerians and pave the way for deregulation of petrol prices through the back door. The fact of the matter is that as long as we continue to depend on imported refined products, deregulation and the abandonment of a subsidy scheme will unleash hardship on Nigerians.

    “In any case, according to our laws, the determination of the recommended prices of petroleum products is the responsibility of the Petroleum Products Prices Regulatory Agency (PPPRA). By law, the board of PPPRA is made up of stakeholders.

    “None of the contradictory prices the minister is throwing up is a product of the agency. Indeed, the board of the PPPRA has not operated for over two years, although we have made repeated demands for the convening of the board.”