The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Strike

  • Health workers adamant as strike bites harder

    Patients are at receiving end of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) strike. They are demanding  amicable resolution of the matter to ensure easy access to health care in public hospitals, reports WALE ADEPOJU.

    Hospital attendance has hit an all-time low following the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).

    The strike began in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) last November 12.

    Many surgery appointments have been cancelled, the number of out-patients has dropped. In-patients are being discharged by families.

    This is the state of public hospitals nationwide, which President of Pharmaceutical  Society of Nigeria (PSN) Mr Olumide Akintayo says shows that healthcare is teamwork.

    Pharmacists, medical laboratory scientists and nurses, among other health workers are participating in the strike.

    The Nation learnt that patients’ names on the waiting list have been increasing daily.

    The surgery appointments for some patients at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) have been cancelled for now.

    A surgeon, who does not want his name mentioned, said they have  to wait until the strike is over before another date can be given.

    A patient, who simply gave his name as Akindele, urged the federal and state governments to resolve the matter quickly in patients’ interest.

    “I don’t know what to do. They said I should come back when the strike is over for another surgery date. I am in serious pain. I don’t want to die. They should do something about the strike because people are dying every day,” he said.

    Doctors, however, are grappling with other duties once delegated, especially at the eye clinic.

    Accident and Emergency wards have become ineffective as nurses who provide the core of care are on strike.

    Activities are also at their lowest ebb at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Metta, Federal Neuro-Psychiatry Hospital, Igbobi and LASUTH.

    The situation is the same in similar facilities nationwide.

    At the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Igbobi, Lagos, a patient said he could not get his record and as such doctors asked him to come back with the papers given to him.

    He said he has been coming since last week for orthopaedic therapy on his troubled limb.

    Health care services at the Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres were skeletal because of nurses’ absence.

    Some doctors were present but they could not do core nursing duties. Some patients were seen assisting others as they took their turns.

    Some expectant mothers who could not withstand the pressure left angrily.

    Some healthcare personnel have urged the government to release the circular of salary adjustment for the striking workers in government-owned hospitals.

    They said such a gesture may end the strike.

    Akintayo said PSN would stand its ground until JOHESU’s demands are met.

    According to him, JOHESU has 12 demands.

    “Moreover, we are asking the government to release the circular of salary adjustment.

    “It requires N13.7 billion to pay all the affected workers at the federal level after which we will call off the strike,” he said.

    The PSN president said ordinary Nigerians were feeling the strike.

    He said: “Anybody can become a patient, either directly or indirectly. So,  it is not a situation we can endure as nobody wants to be in this type of situation.”

    The Public Relations Officer (PRO), Association of Nurses, National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igbobi, Mr Samuel Awodele, said new patients have not been coming visited since the strike began.

    He described the development as “unfortunate”, adding that the strike would continue until the government acceded to workers’ demands.

    “Today, there were fewer than 10 patients who received treatment at the Orthopaedic Hospital because many of them were discharged.”

    He said nobody was attending to them, adding that doctors can only do very little.

    What’s more, the core of the job is done by other health professionals.

    “No surgery and no admission of patients,” Awodele said.

    The government, he said, is yet to accede to workers’ demands, adding that there will be a meeting soon to address the issue. “The union’s position, however, still remains the same. We are not going back to work,“ he said.

    Awodele said the ‘no-work-no-pay’ rule would not affect the union’s decision.

    “We have already prepared our minds and will survive any eventuality,’’ Awodele said.

  • Air traffic controllers threaten strike

    Air traffic controllers threaten strike

    Members of Nigerian Air Traffic Controllers’ Association (NATCA) have reiterated their threat to withdraw air traffic services at airports nationwide.

    The development followed the refusal of the aviation union and the management of Nigerian Airspace Management Agency (NAMA) to shift ground during their meeting yesterday.

    The withdrawal of services may be effective from the early hours of today, owing to what the air traffic controllers described as poor welfare package, incessant equipment failure, inadequate tools as well as excessive work load, which, they said, “constitute serious threat to safety”.

    But, the Nigeria Air Force, it was learnt, has been put on standby to offer air traffic control services, if NATCA members make good their threat.

    The controllers said as arrowheads of air safety, the management of NAMA failed to address various health hazards the job exposed them to, in addition to inconclusive , delayed and inadequate training  spanning over four years.

    As at the time of writing this report, the management of NAMA and the air traffic controllers’ association were meeting at the agency’s headquarters in Lagos to resolve the issue.

    Relevant aviation unions, including the Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), NATCA and civil society groups were also attending the meeting.

  • Why we are on strike, by CRUTECH workers

    Academic activities in the Cross River state University of Technology CRUTECH have been halted due to an indefinite strike by members of staff of the institution over the non-payment of two months’ salaries as well as other outstanding allowances.

    Students, who returned from the Christmas holidays, had to go back due to the development.

    The CRUTECH workers alleged that the institution has been totally neglected by the state government.

    They said they will only resume duties when their demands are met

    Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the school, Dr. Stephen Ochang, accused the Cross River State government of being insensitive to the plight of the university workers.

    Ochang disclosed that the four industrial unions in CRUTECH wrote to the state government last November demanding the payment of salary arrears and other outstanding allowances owed them.

    The ASUU chairman expressed dismay over the inability of the state government to meet its financial obligation to the university noting ‘salaries are no longer paid regularly.’

    Other demands of the unions include the release of N500 million to upgrade facilities in the institution as well as release of fund to pay earned allowances.

    Ochang said the unions are also demanding for the increase of the university’s monthly subvention from N169 million to N250 million “to enable the institution management pay salaries and allowance accrued to staff regularly.”

    Another issue in dispute, it was learnt, is the non release of the report of the Visitation Panel set up by the state government.

    The panel had reportedly decried the poor funding of the university with about 20 programmes offered by the university not accredited.

    It was also gathered that the National Universities Commission (NUC) has threatened to withdraw the partial accreditation granted CRUTECH due to lack of required facilities.

     

  • Coal shortage looms as Indian workers strike

    Coal shortage looms as Indian workers strike

    In one of the biggest direct industrial protests in recent times, over 500 000 coal workers across India went on a five-day strike as negotiations failed.

    Trade union representative said talks between the unions and government lasted for several hours yesterday, with discussions taking place until midnight, but unions said that the government officials had nothing to offer to reverse the “denationalisation of the coal sector”.

    The government, in turn, said that the trade unions were “adamant” on their stand.

    “Negotiations at the secretary level have failed. But we are open for discussions at the political level either with the Prime Minister or the Coal Minister,” Indian National Mineworkers’ Federation secretary general S Q Zama said after the failed talks.

    “We did our best to arrive at a solution but the coal secretary has its own limitations and around 350 000 workers of Coal India Limited (CIL) commenced their strike today,” CIL chairperson Sutirtha Bhattacharya said.

    Significantly, yesterday was the second day at the office for Bhattacharya after he took charge as chairperson of CIL.

    Government estimated about 75 per cent of the country’s daily coal production of around 1.5-million tonnes was affected by the strike.

    The direct industrial actions, the biggest in the country since railway workers’ went on strike in 1977, was to protest the proposed restructuring of CIL, divestment of government equity holding in the largest mining company and trade unions’ apprehensions of “denationalisation of the Indian coal sector” through the government’s recent liberalisation of coal mining with the proposed permitting of private investors into the sector.

    The strike impacted production at major government-owned and -managed coal mining companies like Singareni Collieries Company Limited, Neyveli Liginte Company Limited, as well as CIL, with the latter accounting for over 80 per cent of domestic coal supplies.

    The strike was being supported by all major trade unions representing coal mine workers in the country including, Indian National Trade Union Congress, Centre for Indian Trade Unions, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS), All India Trade Union Congress and Hind Mazdoor Sangh. Ironically, BMS was the labour arm of the Bharatiya Janata Party, which headed the current Indian federal government in New Delhi.

  • Workers’ strike hits courts in Abuja, others

    Workers’ strike hits courts in Abuja, others

    COURTS were paralysed yesterday as workers under the auspices of the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) began an indefinite strike.

    The strike followed the alleged refusal of the Executive arm of government at the federal and state levels to comply with a January 13, 2014 judgment delivered by Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court.

    The judgment, among others, upheld financial autonomy for the judiciary and declared as unconstitutional, the piecemeal release of its budgetary allocations.

    The strike came at a critical stage in the nation’s electioneering process, when many politicians, who are dissatisfied with the outcome of their parties’ primaries, are in court, hoping to have their cases resolved before next month’s general election.

    This is the second time the nation’s judiciary workers would be going on strike on the issue since the judgment was given by Justice Ademola.

    The workers shut courts for over two weeks in July. They suspended the strike when the Presidency, through the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, intervened.

    Representatives of parties relevant to the execution of the judgment, including the accountant general of the federation (AGF), states’ accountants general, commissioners of Finance, among others, held meetings with leaders of JUSUN, which culminated in the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in November.

    The MoU, dated November 27, 2014, directed the accountant general of the federation to deduct directly from allocations to states’ judiciaries at the last Federation Account Allocations Committee (FAAC) meeting in December.

    But yesterday in Abuja, the main gates to the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal headquarters (located within the Three-Arms Zone), the Federal High Court headquarters within the Central Business District and the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama were locked when The Nation visited.

    Some court officials, who reported for work after the holidays, were turned back by JUSUN officials, led by its President, Marwan Adamu.

    The JUSUN officials went round courts to enforce the strike.

    On the strike, Adamu said: “There is no going back. We will persist until they (the Executive) respect the judgment of the court. This strike is, therefore, indefinite.

    “Since we suspended our initial strike, the government and its representatives engaged us in series of meetings, where  about seven agreements were signed.  The last one was the MoU signed in November.

    “Yet, noting has happened. They promised to comply, but at the last FAAC meeting, we were surprised when they all started shouting no, no, no.

    “The accountant general of the federation has refused to obey the judgment. We have tolerated and accommodated them enough.

    “In a situation where courts’ judgments are not obeyed, we are heading towards anarchy. We are happy that there is total compliance with this strike throughout the federation.”

    The JUSUN president, who sympathised with litigants and other court users, said the workers had no choice, but to go on strike to compel implementation of a subsisting court judgment and the agreement reached with them.

    All was quiet at the high and magistrates’ courts in Lagos  State  yesterday, as  workers also complied with the directives of the national leaders of JUSUN.

    Among cases caught in the industrial action was the application filed by Pastor Temitope Joshua, seeking to stop the inquest into the circumstances surrounding the September 12, 2014, building collapse.

    Justice Lateefa Okunnu could not deliver her ruling in the matter.

    Also, the coroner, Chief Magistrate Oyetade Komolafe, could also not sit.

    Litigants and lawyers were prevented from entering the Lagos and Ikeja High court by officials of JUSUN.

    Judges, who reported early for work and hoping to carry on with court proceedings, were turned back as the gates were locked.

    The situation was also the same at the state’s magistrates’ courts.

    Court registrars were  around, but they could not access the court rooms.

    JUSUN’s National Deputy President Samuel Adesanya told reporters yesterday that the strike began on January 2 as scheduled, despite the public holidays.

    An executive of the Lagos branch of JUSUN, Mr. Adelenu Tajudeen, said the court gates would remain locked till further notice.

    The National Industrial Court (NIC) in Ikoyi was also locked as the workers stayed off. Those who reported for work returned home.

    Angry litigants and lawyers, who had thought the association would not carry out the threat, expressed displeasure over the situation.

    They said JUSUN should have considered the implication of its action on the masses.

    They explained that the strike would cause hardship to those in detention while police cells would witness more congestion.

    A Lagos-based lawyer, Kayode Bankole, expressed worries that state governments were yet to compile with the judgment several months after it was delivered.

    When contacted, the National Secretary of JUSUN, Isaiah Adetola, said: “All state high courts will remain closed until they complied with the judgment of the court and grant financial autonomy to the judiciary.”

    In Edo State, courts’ gates were also locked as the state’s JUSUN officials monitored events to ensure full compliance .

    Besides the demand for judicial autonomy, the state JUSUN is also seeking the payment of July 2013 salaries to its members.

    The salary was reportedly withheld because the state government enforced the “no-work no-pay rule” after JUSUN members joined a national strike. Its Chairman, Uyi Ogieriakhi, said his members were being victimised by the state for participating in the strike.

    According to him, “The July salary is a right Edo State cannot continue to keep. We embark on a strike to fight for autonomy of the judiciary.

    “The strike we went for was a statutory strike, but workers are being victimised by the government. We are urging the governor to take a look at the July salary. We cannot continue to wallow in a situation, where the judiciary will be caged.”

  • 2014: Year of strikes

    2014: Year of strikes

    It was one strike after the other in the health sector in 2014. Doctors, nurses, pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists took turns in going on strike. Patients bore the brunt of the strikes, reports WALE ADEPOJU.

    What a year for the health sector! 2014 was full of strikes which left hospitals locked and abandoned.

    Experts said the strikes were too many.

    At the moment, all governments’ hospitals, though opened, are virtually not working because of the ongoing strike by the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU).

    Why these strikes? According to the president, National Union of Allied Health Professionals (NUAHP), Dr Felix Faniran, the issues are many. Some, he said, have been solved; others are lingering.

    He said the government was wasting  time, adding: “What it should have done in April is now being done in December. The government has not done what it should do. They are still compiling the cost implication of what health workers should be getting whereas that of doctors was done in January.”

    Accusing the government of causing division, Faniran said the governor preferred one profession to the others. “I think some people in government are benefiting from the disharmony. The government is to blame.”

    Faniran added: “Unfortunately, the strike will continue until next year.”

     

    The effect(s)

    The incessant strikes have paralysed the sector, leaving hapless patients to either patronise private hospitals or make do with traditional medicine centres.

    The rich resorted to overseas treatment, increasing medical tourism, a trend the Acting Chief Medical Director (CMD), Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Prof Chris Bode, said should be discouraged.

    According to him, N6 million, which people spend to access treatment in India or other countries abroad, can take care of more than 50 patients  in Nigeria.

    Bode said the loss incurred during strikes, especially the one by JOHESU, is incalculable.

    He said nobody should single out one group, adding: “Let us blame everybody. It is hypocritical for us to continue to receive salaries for the jobs we did not do.”

    The government, Bode said, is trying its best to give subvention to hospitals. “Can the firemen be on strike when the house is burning? If we keep striking, training and services will continue to suffer.

    The health team should avoid industrial action. The government workers in public sector earn double what those in private sector receive. So, they must not go on strike.”

    Bode said people should resolve grievances through dialogue, adding that strikes can never be the way out of difficult situations.

    First, it was the doctors, who were clamouring for uniformity in their pay among those under the employment of Federal and state government.

    The health workers were undivided in getting better salaries and position in the sector. Their association, the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU), wanted parity with the doctors in appointments to key positions in the hospital as well as answer the title of a “consultant”.

    The NMA wanted the Consolidate Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) implemented in state and Federal hospitals, which led to the first strike. That problem, however, is unresolved till date.

    The cry of the doctors and health workers led to the delay in the passage of the National Health Bill, which is today a law governing the healthcare system. The fight as to who should head the health team is still on and the reason for the disharmony is not far-fetched.

    While the NMA strike lasted, in-patients were ejected from hospitals, especially tertiary facilities, with many of them finding solace in spiritual homes and traditional medicine centres.

    Hospitals were deserted as “consulting rooms”are empty and workers now on Absent Without Official Leave (AWOL). Doctors, nurses and other workers in the health care team took to the streets carrying placards to press home their demands.

    The hope of common man to access treatment in public hospitals has been dashed as many resort to alternative medicine for succour.

    Last year will continue to be green, for wrong reasons, the heart many sick Nigerians who could only access medical care in public hospitals because of finance.

     

    Why the strikes

    The various groups in the sector have their reasons for embarking on strikes. But the common reason remains salary.

    First, it was the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) that gave the Federal Government a 14-day ultimatum to show commitment in meeting its demands or risk overhauling medical services across the country.

    The government could not meet NMA’s demand and an indefinite strike on June 13 followed.  It lasted for 55 days.

    The group demanded the implementation of  Universal Health Coverage (UHC), among others for all citizens.

    NMA president, Dr. Lawrence Obembe said the proliferation of directorates in hospitals was a problem, arguing that it would set a wrong trend in hospital administration.

    This, he said, led to a strike, which began in December of last year and suspended on January 5.

    It came when the government failed to resolve the problems within a 24-day ultimatum in December 2013.

    According to him, the government did try but it could not solve all the problems. “The core of the problems, however, was solved,” he said.

    Some consultants, however, opted out of the strike when it became protracted.

    Former Health Minister Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu said the government had addressed the problems but the NMA said there were still many unanswered questions.

    After several meetings, which ended in deadlocks, Chukwu described the striking doctors as “unprofessional”, adding that they did not live up to the Hippocratic Oath they swore to.

    Vice President, Commonwealth Medical Association, West African Region, Dr Osahon Enabulele said most of the strikes that occurred in the country could have been prevented if the government had done the needful.

    He said the National Health Bill (NHB), which has now become a law, could have been passed long ago, to give the sector a fresh air.

    Enabulele said some of the strikes were uncalled for, adding that the government should tackle the problems in the sector holistically to prevent recurrence.

    Comrade Stephen Nwokenta said the only way workers can get something from the Federal Government is to embark on strike. “This is the only language the government understands. But this should not be the case,” he said.

    According to the Supervising Minister of Health, Khaliru Alhassan, the strike by the Joint Health Sector Union (JOHESU) is unjustifiable, unnecessary and unfortunate.

    Alhassan said the decision of JOHESU’s executive to go on strike on November 13 was unnecessary as negotiations between the union and government were on.

    The minister said the call for strike suggested that there could be more to incessant strikes by the union than what it was clamouring for.

    “The strike is unexpected because it is against the rules governing the relationship between the ministry and the workers.

    “It is most unnecessary because there is ongoing dialogue which has been very successful at various stages whereby most of the demands of JOHESU have been met.

    “The last meeting between JOHESU and government on November 6 ended amicably with some prescribed assignments for the government and the union”, he said.

    The government, he said, demonstrated enough commitment to address most of the problems raised by the unions.

    The strike by JOHESU, he said, shows lack of patriotism on its part.

    The government, he said, had corrected the lop-sidedness and unlawful constitution of the boards of management of the various teaching hospitals among six other demands raised by the union.

    The minister called on heads of all tertiary hospitals and other agencies in the health sector to watch out and report any unsatisfactory conduct by members of the union.

    Trivial matters, such as who should answer the title of a “consultant” in the hospital became an issue.

    On January 22, the medical workers under the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) went on a three-day warning strike.

    The strike grounded all health institutions and health-related institutions, including the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), National Institute for Medical Research (NIMR) among others.

    Like JOHESU, the MHWUN embarked on the warning strike to compel the Federal Government to enforce all agreements it entered with health workers as well as various court pronouncements in its favour.

    Health workers under the aegis of the Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) / Assembly of Healthcare Professional Associations declared a three-day warning strike between January 21 and 24.

    The workers said the strike was aimed at “protesting the grave injustice and persistent industrial discrimination against our members” by the government; discriminatory practices against health professionals in implementation of consolidated health salary structure (CONHESS) in favour of doctors’ Consolidated Salary Structure (CONMESS); continued reign of impunity, arbitrariness and non-implementation of duly approved schemes of service of members in hospitals and ministries, and selective and discriminatory increases in wages and allowances of one group in a multidisciplinary sector without commensurate treatment to other members of the sector.

    The then Health Minister, Prof Onyebuchi Chukwu, said the strike was unnecessary as the government had attended to their grievances.

    He said the strike was illegal, adding that the government would not entertain cheap blackmail from any group.

    On July1, patients accessing treatment at various public hospitals across Lagos State, were hard hit as they were denied access to treatment because of a strike declared by the NMA.

    Doctors at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) and National Orthopaedic Hospital, Igboi as well as the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Ebute Metta, among others, joined the strike.

    The out-patient units and clinics were shut in the hospitals while in-patients were unable to see doctors.

    On March 26, health workers in the employ of Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) vowed to continue strike until their demands were addressed by the state government.

    The workers marched peacefully within the hospital.

    Its chairman, Mr Rasheed Bamishe, said the workers would remain resolute until the government implements the Consolidated Health Salary Structure (CONHESS).

    JOHESU embarked on a five-day strike between June 15 and 21.

    Its members in Primary Healthcare Centres (PHCs), General/Specialists hospitals and teaching hospitals joined.

    The strike, it said, was to register its displeasure against the appointment of a Surgeon-General for the Federation, as requested by the members of NMA.

    “The position exists only in the United States, assumed by a care provider who has military background on special assignments often times akin to Peace Corps. The office of the assistant Secretary of Health to which the Surgeon General reports in the US is junior to the Minister of State for Health in Nigeria. The Surgeon General in the US works with commissioned corps officers, which includes more than 6, 700 uniformed health officers from different professions who serve in locations around the world,” it said.

    Faniran said the sector was poorly represented at the National Conference in Abuja.

    He said: “The sole representative at the conference is a medical doctor, who we believe cannot adequately represent the 25 professional associations in the sector.”

    The group advocated that all government  health workers should have a unified salary scale to check and prevent unhealthy rivalry and end to the incessant strike action, which leaves the innocent patient to suffer.”

    Also, the Nigerian Society of Physiotherapists urged the NMA to end the on-going strike and save lives of millions who have no means to fly abroad for medical treatment.

    Its president, Mr. Taiwo Oyewumi urged the NMA should rescind its decision and listen to voice of reason as it concerns life.

    Prof Chukwu advised the nurses to be patient for the government to reach an amicable resolution with the NMA before thinking of the next line of action.

    Chukwu said:“The nurses should be patient to see the outcome of our negotiation with the NMA.

    “I assure you that all parties will be happy at the end of the day. What we are after is to bring lasting peace to the health sector. They should be patient.

    “I believe very soon, we will see the end of this recurrent strike in the health sector.

    “I appeal to all cooperate and support the government in its effort to provide affordable and qualitative health services to the people.”

  • Abuse of strike

    •Oil workers should stop punishing Nigerians over flimsy excuses

    For four days last week, the economy would again be thrown into avoidable spasms as a result of the strike embarked upon by the nation’s powerful oil industry unions – the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) and the National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG). It would, sadly again, be occasion to settle on their now familiar tradition of exploiting citizens’ vulnerability to the hilt; choosing a most opportunistic moment – the approach of the yuletide – to inflict pains on Nigerians.

    The fact that this has since become their stock-in-trade is what makes it both regrettable and sad.

    And what do these oil workers really want? It goes beyond the same old but familiar story expressed in the so-called failures to execute successful turnaround maintenance of the nation’s four refineries. Or even their new-found tales on the need for the Federal Government to evolve new strategies to combat pipeline vandalism and crude oil theft – a plague which, admittedly, the Jonathan administration has failed to contain.

    As stakeholders, it goes without saying that their rather novel demand for an alignment of pump prices of petrol in the wake of the slump in global prices of crude oil would seem nothing extraordinary. No one can deny that these demands have some merit.

    Again, like most Nigerians, the unions have the right to worry about the delay in the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB); or even the high rate divestment in the industry and its job losses arising from the non-passage of the PIB; the non-implementation of the Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Content Development Act; the appalling state of access roads to refineries and oil depots’ facilities and the general insecurity all over the country, which they point out, continues to claim the lives of their members.

    Protesting the casualisation of oil workers is not only within their prerogative as organised labour; it is also their right to challenge unfair labour practices by companies and government agencies.

    But then, are these the real issues? Even if they were, would they have sufficed to shut down an economy already under the throes of slump in global oil price? For all intents and purposes, the strike has merely revealed one fundamental problem with the unions that has been denied up till now – the belief that simply because they have the power, they can use it to force the hand of the government no matter how unrighteous their cause.

    It seems to us that the two unions have merely used the pretext of the transfer and termination of one of PENGASSAN zonal officers in Rivers State, Elo Victor, by the management of Total Oil Nigeria to punish the nation. It is wrong as it is immoral. Of course, only in the context of the weapon of blackmail that the instrument of strike has become in the hands of PENGASSAN and NUPENG can these be contemplated.

    As for the refineries, this newspaper has long argued that the Federal Government loses nothing by selling them. That position, if anything, remains as valid as it is compelling, even now. More than five years after the botched privatisation of the refineries in Port Harcourt and Kaduna, and with billions of naira thrown in for their Turn Around Maintenance with nothing to show for it, the position of NUPENG and PENGASSAN is not only inexplicable; it appears only the two unions still live in the illusion that the Federal Government can ever get the refineries to work optimally. The irony here is that both NUPENG and PENGASSAN which appear just as culpable as the Federal Government in foisting the current atmosphere in which the nation has found it nigh impossible to let the refineries go still think that the government should continue to pour money into the sink holes.

    Much as we concede to the right of the unions to stand up for the welfare of their members, these cannot be at the risk of plunging the larger economy into turmoil. We consider last week’s strike as unnecessary; if anything, it was an abuse of the strike weapon.

  • Ondo workers on strike

    Ondo workers on strike

    Activities have been paralysed in ministries, departments and agencies in Ondo State as the strike by civil servants entered its second day.

    Operators of refuse disposal vehicles have also been on “holiday”, with heaps of refuse littering the streets of the state capital, Akure.

    Civil servants, including teachers, embarked on the strike to press home their demands for the payment of their two-month outstanding salaries.

    The Chairman, Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), Sunday Adeleye, said the government failed to accede to their requests.

    But the government has appealed to its workers to call off the strike, assuring them that their demands would soon be met.

    A top government official said the government would, next week, pay last month’s salary.

    The workers are also demanding for the payment of all their deductions and promotion of those who are due.

  • No strike, Shekarau promises

    EDUCATION Minister, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau has assured tertiary institutions that there will be no more industrial actions by the various workers’ unions.

    The Minister said this at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Akoka and Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH), when he made an impact assessment tour of federal tertiary institutions in Lagos.

    Shekarau said reports by visitation panels which were earlier ignored were being reviewed, promising that the issues they raised would be addressed.

    He said insinuations that the workers unions in polytechnics and colleges of education (Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics [ASUP] and the College of Education Academic Staff Union [COEASU]), would resume their suspended strikes were untrue.

    “The NEEDS assessment reports bothering on staffing, facilities and other issues will be addressed, and once these are addressed, there will be no need for strike,” he said.

    Shekarau said a major focus of his administration is teacher-education.

    “My priority is the restoration of dignity in the teaching profession. I was in the classroom till my retirement. And I hope to be in the classroom till my last day. The quality of education in any country is linked to the quality of the teaching staff. Under my leadership, therefore, teacher-education will be accorded full priority, in line with the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan,” he said.

    Addressing the unions at YABATECH, after inaugurating some projects completed by the college, Mallam Shekarau thanked members of the union for believing in him right from his emergence as education minister.

    “I thank the unions for giving us the chance to address the issues of the strike. I wish to assure you that we have gone quite far. In not too distant time, all of these issues will be things of the past,” he said.

     

  • Ekiti varsity workers on strike

    Activities were yesterday halted at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, as workers went on strike to protest the  non-payment of their allowances.

    The workers, comprising the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), insisted that the situation would persist, until the allowances are paid.

    SSANU Chairman Kolawole Falade said the decision to go on strike followed a resolution at a meeting of members of the four unions, led by their chairmen, Prof Olu Olu (ASUU), Falade (SSANU), Tope Akanmu (NASU) and Jola Awogbemi (NAAT).

    Falade said the university could not meet its financial obligations in terms of salary, following the government’s failure to  pay subvention since August.

    He said the workers were demanding “their two- month salaries, excess work load allowances since 2011 and responsibility allowance for non-teaching staff since 2008”.

     “We want to implore the government to adequately fund the university as its owner. The government should pick up the total wage bill of the university and pay it capital grant as done in other state universities”.

    The SSANU leader said if the government could pick up the institution’s wage bill, it would allow the school authorities apply revenues generated internally for infrastructural development.

    He lamented a situation whereby the N260 million monthly subvention to the institution could not settle its about N400 million wage bill, advising the government to also respect the university’s autonomy.

     “Changing principal officers with new administrations is unhealthy because they are not politicians and they have specific tenure.

     “The merger of three universities into one (EKSU) was with the promise to make it a world-class university, but we have not seen that.”

    Falade said the university name should be reverted to University of Ado Ekiti.