The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Union

  • Union, firm partner for staff welfare  

    Peeved by the indecent treatment meted out to workers in some companies, National Union of Foods Beverages Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) and management of Beloxxi Nigeria Limited, a confectionery company, have partnered for growth.

    The collaboration has culminated in the inauguration of NUFBTE Beloxxi Chapter on the company’s premises in Agbara, Ogun state surburb.

    Speaking at the event, NUFBTE’s Head of Education Unit Mike Olarenwaju said the chapter would provide workers with a platform to express their grievances, and check the excesses of management.

    He urged workers to defend their rights within the ambit of the law, adding that the United Nations Charter recognised their right to work and live.

    Olarenwaju said the workers have been unionised, and should be able to make their problems known to management when necessary.

    Frictions, he said, were bound to occur in any relationship, adding that the union and the management of Beloxxi would manage them whenever they arise.

    He said the Beverages and Tobacco arm of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) believed in dialogue, stressing that this explained the peace the Foods and Beverages subsector enjoyed.

    Company Secretary Mr Bamofin Olatokunbo Samson said the idea would strengthen the relationship between the company and its workers.

    He said the firm would continue to pursue its goals of empowering youths and promoting the local content policy of the Federal Government.

    He said’: “ We at( Berloxxi) have been helping youths to realise their potentials and be useful to the society. We do this by encouraging our workers, who are mainly youths to further their education. Giving the  synergy between Berloxxi and the labour union, we believe the future of our workers is guaranteed. “

    He said the management would not interfere with the decisions of the chapter, since it has agreed to do things that would improve their welfare .

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Union advocates workers’, employers’ partnership

    President, Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSEAC), Mr. Chris Okonkwo, has urged employers and workers to work together to drive productivity and elevate the power sector.

    The acknowledgment of workers’labour and constitutional rights, he said, could not be undermined because they are pivotal to ensuring efficiency in the sector.

    Okonkwo, who spoke at the association’s inaugural National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Lagos, said: “Employers should begin to see workers as partners in progress. It is only when they do this that their profiteering capability can be guaranteed. Companies by default are sabotaging themselves because you have to do what you are supposed to do first before you talk about what someone is doing to undo what you have done.”

    He said picketing is a tool in labour recognised by all conventions as a means of showing grievances against management or government. Picketing, he said,  does not mean sabotage and can only be if the intention is to blackmail workers to surrender their rights and allow them to be manipulated.

    The association, according to him, is working with the Ministry of Labour on a meeting over the sacking of 400 workers by an electricity distribution company (DisCo).

    Okonkwo lamented that the aftermath of the sector’s privatisation  was adverse, explaining that workers are bearing the brunt of companies’ failure to make adequate provision during the transition.

  • Ikeja Electric opts out of negotiation over sacked workers

    Ikeja Electric opts out of negotiation over sacked workers

    Negotiation between Ikeja Electric Company and the Labour over the recent disengagement of workers has broken down with the company opting out of the talks.
    The company in a statement said that the negotiation was tending towards a proposition that would jeopardise transparency, employee performance and service excellence to customers.

    Last month, Labour had picketed the electricity distribution company for three days over the disengagement of workers who failed to meet the company’s performance objectives and were deemed to be performing below standard.

    However, the picketing was suspended after Ikeja Electric reached an agreement with the National Union of Electricity Workers (NUEE) and Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) to set up a committee to review the performance appraisal and competency assessment process.

    Head of Corporate Communications of the company, Felix Ofulue, explained that the talks was discontinued due to ” a clear determination by representatives of Labour to stick to a pre-conceived and irreversible position that the process was flawed. Therefore, the review process was an exercise in futility.”

    Rather than engage in an objective and constructive review of the whole appraisal process which is tailored in line with global best practices as Ofulue said Labour preferred an arbitrary review in which reduced criteria would be applied to certain selected employees who are members of the union”.

    “The performance review process was classified into four stages, clearly detailing steps to be taken at each stage. However, Labour, without taking any of these steps into consideration and any justifiable rationale, insisted the process was flawed and demanded that Ikeja Electric must recall all disengaged staff.

    “While we remain committed to upholding best human capital processes and stakeholder engagement in fostering excellence in the workplace, there are indications that the propositions of certain actors in the negotiation process are against our resolve to provide improved services to our customers and are fixated on jeopardizing our overall interest to move the industry forward so we had no choice but to withdraw in the interest of our consumers,” he added.

    Ofulue noted that the electricity sector had suffered great setback over several decades of mismanagement and stressed that it was time to focus on applying quality human capital to salvage the situation.

    Calling for restraint, the Ikeja Electric spokesman pointed out that Labour was morally bound to protect the overall wellbeing of the masses, and not the interests of a select few.

    He cited the last picketing exercise which caused great distress to the general public and cautioned against saboteurs and detractors who were bent on scuttling the negotiation process for selfish reasons.

    He said the company would resist any attempt to allow its customers go through another harrowing outage ordeal, cautioning that the company will not hesitate to seek redress at the Industrial Court should Labour disrupt its ability to provide customers electricity supply and worsen the power situation which over the few weeks have been dismal due to grid challenges and gas shortage.

  • Union urges Buhari to halt expatriate quota abuse

    Union urges Buhari to halt expatriate quota abuse

    •’Nigerians’ jobs threatened

    President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to end expatriate quota abuse by foreign construction companies in the country.

    Workers claimed that the practice is taking a toll on the welfare of the few Nigerians in the industry.

    Construction and Civil Engineering Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) President, Comrade Isaac Egbugara, said at the union’s National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Owerri, the Imo State capital, that the jobs of Nigerians in the industry were now threatened.

    He called on the regulatory authorities to monitor, enforce and sanction erring construction companies.

    Egbugara said: “The NEC-in-session observed with dismay that numerous construction companies operating in the country deliberately flout the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, especially as it concerns expatriate quota. While seriously frowning at this, we call on the Federal Government and the National Assembly to revisit the ‘Local Content Bill for the construction industry’, which has dragged-on for longer than necessary.”

    He regretted the mass retrenchment of construction workers across the country, blaming it on the poor funding of projects, especially those belonging to the government.

    While urging the government to, as a matter of urgency,  pay the debts owed construction companies, especially for completed projects, Egbugara urged the government to adequately fund ongoing projects in order to reduce the high level of job loss in the industry.

    The union, he said, also advocated a bailout for the industry as was done to the state governments, urging the government to declare a state of emergency in the industry as one of the major employers of labour to avoid a total collapse of an industry that employs more workers outside the civil service.

    Concerning the improvement in the nation’s security, most especially the significant progress recorded in the fight against insurgency in the Northeastern part of Nigeria, the construction workers said it was commendable as it would be in the best interest of the construction industry and favour even infrastructural development of the country.

    Also commended was the government’s resilience and doggedness  in fighting corruption and its resolve to save the nation from the serious rot and decay that has almost brought the country to its knees, especially the ongoing drive to recover looted public funds.

  • Union opposes planned restructuring of staff schools

    Union opposes planned restructuring of staff schools

    The Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, Lagos State University (SSANU-LASU) has urged the state government to halt the planned de-harmonisation of its staff in primary schools.

    The plan include severing the  primary schools from the university’s administration and giving it workers a different salary scale. This, the union warned, may plunge the university into a fresh crisis.

    SSANU said the planned exercise amounted to a breach of the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government.

    In an exclusive interview with The Nation, SSANU-LASU Chairman, Comrade Saheed Oseni,  described the plan as uncalled for, saying no state university has embarked on such action since the signing of the agreement about six years ago.

    ”We are using this opportunity to call on the state government not to truncate the peace that has gradually returned to LASU.  SSANU rejects this policy in its entirety because it will inflict more hardship on our members. This means our members will now be moved away to earn a new salary structure, which will no doubt be less.

    “Government should know that this is a university and not a civil service. Our members are paid on Consolidated University Non-Academic Salary Scale (CONUNASS) and we want that to remain,” Oseni said.

    He said the Union was suprised when the university management reached out to them a fortnight ago, drawing their attention to the memo from the state with the title: ‘De-harmonisation of Staff Salary School Teachers from University Salary Scale’

    He recalled that in December, three federal universities embarked on such action, adding that the national SSANU promptly rose against it, embarking on a strike, which was later ‘suspended’ last month on the directive of the National Administrative Committee of SSANU, which met with the Federal Ministry of Labour & Employment, which referred the matter to the National Industrial Court.

    ”So, what we are saying is: ‘Why can’t Lagos State Government wait for the outcome of the matter at the industrial court before rushing to pass the directive on our members? We are all awaiting the interpretation of that agreement, which will be binding on all parties,” Oseni said.

    He said there was no gainsaying the fact that staff school serves as demonstration school to the universities’ Faculty of Education, and most of those teachers there have no less than masters degrees, while some are doing their Ph.D.

    His words: “Government says they want to de-harmonise staff schools because they are on CONUNASS, but they forget that many of them have trained and graduated children some of whom have today earned their Ph.Ds or even become professors.

    “Now let’s assume a child graduated from staff school primary school and later came back to join the service of the university, rose through the ranks and became a professor, while those teachers, who made him what he is several years ago are still in the system and are now earning peanut,  won’t that bring inferiority complex on those teachers?”

  • Union donates to FRSC

    It was festivity galore as members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (J5 Container Unit, Mile 12) handed over the keys of an office accommodation to the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Ojota Unit Command Lagos. The newly inaugurated building, comprising two office rooms and a toilet, was built by the NURTW.

    In his address, Bulama Adamu Gumel, representative of the transport union, said the donation was made as a token of appreciation to the men and officers of the command. Gumel, who likened the relationship between FRSC and NURTW to that between husbands and wives, emphasised that “doing this for FRSC does not mean that our members now have a licence to drive or behave recklessly on the roads.”

    Commending the gesture, Michael A. Olapade, a Deputy Corps Commander, who represented the Lagos State FRSC Commander, thanked the transport union for standing by FRSC, even as he urged his officers to always do more for the public, adding that “to whom much is given, much is also expected.”

    While recalling that his command had recorded landmark achievements through collaborations that had enhanced the operation and performance of his officers, Ojota Unit Commander of FRSC, Kehinde Hamzat, an Assistant Corps Commander (ACC), said he “felt extremely great and happy” that the relationship between the FRSC and stakeholders is waxing stronger.

    “The true friend of FRSC is the driver that upholds all the etiquettes of good driving, including driving with up-to-date driver’s licence and respecting traffic rules and regulations. If the road safety officials are happy, they will be motivated to do more on the roads and more lives will be saved.

    “I am happy the union leaders warned their members that the donation was not a license for misbehaviour on the road, but an act of corporate social responsibility. Some transporters act ignorantly. Some want to come closer to us without knowing how. But with this gesture, they know we are really approachable; there is also an opportunity for us to get closer to them and enlighten them the more on driver’s licence and other issues,” Hamzat said.

  • Union gets new leaders

    The Ebonyi State Development Association (ESDA), Lagos Branch, has elected its new officers. Mr. Paul Ikele was elected president of the union and will serve a term of four years.

    Others elected were Mr Joseph Egbo (1st Vice President); Mr Francis Akan (2nd Vice President); Mr. Joseph Okon (General Secretary); Mr Idam Onyekwere (Assistant Secretary); Ide Nwonu Sunday (Treasurer); Chief Lazarus Nwafor (Financial Secretary); Comrade Joseph Igboji (Public Relations Officer); Mr Obosi Job Obasi (Assistant Public Relations Officer).

    The officials were inaugurated by Chief Augustine Ogbodo, a lawyer.

    Ikele thanked members of the union for their confidence in the leaders, adding that his administration would focus on innovation.

    He said, “Our administration will bring good transformation, reliability and progress and…ensure the association attains its highest point with humility and respect…We shall ensure financial strength, self-sustenance, empowerment [of members].”

  • Union: Agric colleges should get TETFund grants

    The Academic Staff Union of Colleges of Agriculture and related institutions (ASUCA) has faulted the exclusion of Colleges of Agriculture and related institutions from benefiting from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) like other tertiary institutions in the country.

    The union said agricultural institutions should benefit, especially with plans to diversify the economy from oil to non-oil sectors like agriculture.

    The union expressed support for the Federal Colleges of Agriculture bill before the National Assembly which, when passed, will guarantee funding from TETFund to the colleges.

    The union’s position was contained in a statement signed by its chairman, Comrade Obadiah and secretary, Comrade Williams Manggoel.

    It said: “There are 22 federal colleges of agriculture and related institutions in the country as well as almost 36 state-owned colleges of agriculture.

    “Now that the Federal Government is planning to focus more on the Agric sector and make it a major Foriegn exchange earner for the country, the time is ripe to include the colleges into TETFUND project.

    “The infrastructural decay in these colleges is quite worrisome. The proper funding of these colleges through TETFUND like is done to universities and polythecnics will enable the colleges deliver on their mandates.

    “This will also create the needed pool of middle and high level technically trained labour force to manage the agricultural value chain for successful diversification of the economy.”

    The union applauded the efforts of Speaker of House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara and the entire house for passing the bill through its first and second reading.

    They urged the House to give speedy passage to the bill in view of its importance to the economy. They also called on Nigerians to support the bill.

     

  • Union gets new leaders

    The Ebonyi State Development Association (ESDA), Lagos Branch, has elected new officers. The election held at Ebonyi House in Lagos. Mr. Paul Ikele was elected president of the union and will serve a term of four years.

    Others elected were Mr Joseph Egbo (1st Vice President); Mr Francis Akan (2rd Vice President); Mr. Joseph Okon (General Secretary); Mr Idam Onyekwere (Assistant Secretary); Ide Nwonu Sunday (Treasurer); Chief Lazarus Nwafor (Financial Secretary); Comrade Joseph Igboji (Public Relations Officer); Mr Obosi Job Obasi (Assistant Public Relations Officer).

    The officials were inaugurated by Chief Augustine Ogbodo, a lawyer.

    Responding on behalf of the newly elected officers, the president thanked members of the union for their confidence in the leaders, adding that his administration would focus on innovation.

    He said, “Our administration will bring good transformation, reliability and progress and assiduously follow the tenets and ensure the association attains the highest point with humility and respect more especially the safety our members. We shall ensure financial strength, self-sustenance, empowered and support to all our brother and sister and liaising with both Ebonyi and Lagos state governments in tacking street trading issues.”

     

  • Union gets new leaders

    The Ebonyi state Development Association (ESDA), Lagos Branch, has elected new officers. The election held at Ebonyi House in Lagos. Mr. Paul Ikele was elected president of the union and will serve a term of four years.

    Others elected were Mr Joseph Egbo (1st Vice President); Mr Francis Akan (2rd Vice President); Mr. Joseph Okon (Gen. Secretary); Mr Idam Onyekwere (Assistant Secretary); Ide Nwonu Sunday (Treasurer); Chief Lazarus Nwafor (Financial Secretary); Comrade Joseph Igboji (Public Relations Officer); Mr Obosi Job Obasi (Assistant Public Relations Officer).

    The officials were inaugurated by Mr. Augustine Ogbodo, a lawyer.

    Responding on behalf of the newly elected officers, the president thanked members of the union for their confidence in the leaders, adding that his administration would focus on innovation.

    He said, “Our administration will bring good transformation, reliability and progress and assiduously follow the tenets and ensure the association attains the highest point with humility and respect more especially the safety our members. We shall ensure financial strength, self-sustenance, empowered and support to all our brother and sister and liaising with both Ebonyi and Lagos state Government in tacking the street trading issues.”