The Nation Newspaper

Tag: United Labour Congress

  • ‘Government has no option than to pay N30,000 minimum wage’

    As workers continue to await the outcome of their demand for a new minimum wage, a labour leader, Mr Joe Ajaero, has again warned  that government has no option than to pay the N30,000 minimum wage and then follow up with payment of arrears.

    Ajaero, who is the President of the United Labour Congress, spoke at a public forum on labour in Lagos on Thursday.

    He restated that a tripartite committee had considered the ability of government to pay the sum before the committee agreed on the sum.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that a tripartite committee was set up by President Muhammadu Buhari on Nov. 5, 2017 and the committee later agreed on N30, 000 as new minimum wage.

    However, some state governors appear to have reneged on the agreement, saying that they can only afford to pay N22, 500 as minimum wage, an amount the labour movement rejected.

    The development has put public sector workers on edge, prompting labour to resort to the strike option, although the Federal Government appear to be resolving the issues.

    Analysts classify public sector workers in Nigeria among the least paid in the world, although Nigeria’s political office holders are among the highest paid in the world.

    According to Ajaero, organized labour is demanding wage arrears because the minimum wage has been due since 2016.

    He said that labour had resolved to fight for the new minimum wage even after the upcoming general election, saying that there would be no retreat or surrender until workers received the wage.

    Read Also:‘Economy not ripe for new minimum wage’

    ”Labour will ask for two years arrears because even the N30,000 is less than N1,000 a day for a family of six. Minimum wage is a bench mark and some states can even pay higher.

    Ajaero said that time of reckoning had come for some governors, whom he said, had been taking so much but still found it difficult to pay workers what was due to them.

    ”For any political leader who will rig election to stay in office, labour will ground such a state if the governor refuses to pay. We will disconnect electricity and fuel supply until in such states.’’

    Ajaero advised President Muhammadu Buhari to ask questions on how some governors spent the intervention funds, rather than holding court with the governors after the wage committee had concluded its job.

    The Head of the International Relations Department of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Mr Uche Ekwe, said that it was regrettable that some governors were not willing to pay the new wage even when they were paying higher wages to scores of their aides.

    Ekwe advised the president to be weary of the pranks of the governors because workers’ votes were crucial in the 2019 elections.

    He said that the NLC would continue to educate and embark on programmes, aimed at improving workers’ productivity.

    NAN

  • Labour expresses concern over insecurity

    The  Organised  Labour has said the refusal of the government to rejig the nation’s security and remove erring heads in the face of their failure to stem killings  is causing some concern.

    Workers under the umbrella of the United Labour Congress (ULC) said they were worried that despite all promises by the government to stem killings in the Northeast and Northcentral, the incident has continued.

    ULC President, Joe Ajaero,  speaking at the end of the Central Working Committee (CWC) of the Centre in Lagos, lamented that the number of Nigerians who suffer untimely and gruesome death keeps growing     while government watches helplessly.

    “It has become frightening to Nigerian workers and masses at the lack of premium which politicians and leaders place on the lives of an average Nigerian,” he said.

    Ajaero said workers do not think that their lives matter and as many continue to fall victims of the nefarious activities of the militants, politicians turn blind eyes.

    He said: “Our worry became alarming when we observed that the institutions that ought to take charge of this threat to our nation seem not to have any answer  to the killings.

    “We had thought that this would have been one of the measures that would resolve the security crisis.”

    The labour leader emphasised that any government or leadership that fails to protect the lives and properties of its citizenry is a failed government.

    “We have to be alive to enjoy whatsoever other benefits or achievements the government may have claimed to have attained during its tenure,” he said.

    Ajaero added: “We therefore call on government to demonstrate that the lives of workers and masses matter by arresting some of the self-confessed killers that still walk on our streets. The murderous Fulani-herdsmen as represented by Miyetti – Allah must be arrested and its leadership prosecuted.”

     

  • Labour to govt: pay 16 months arrears of 48,000 ex-PHCN workers

    The United Labour Congress (ULC) has urged the Federal Government to pay the severance package of 48,000 workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) disengaged four years ago.

    The union said the workers were still owed over 16 months’ arrears in agreed payments, while over 2,000 more workers have not received any severance package since then.

    The President of ULC, Joe Ajaero, who spoke during the union’s, Central Working Committee (CWC) in Lagos, said the over 2000 workers were wallowing in hunger and suffering with their family members.

    Ajaero said the union expected President Muhammadu Buhari’s government,  after three years, to critically review the privatisation of the electricity industry.

    He said the Chairman, National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had not mentioned the issue since he came on board.

    According to him, the status quo has rather deepened even as the nation suffers increasing gaps in electricity supply as more households wallow in darkness.

    Ajaero called on government to review the privatisation of the electricity sector rather than extorting Nigerians through estimated billings and poor electricity supply.

    He said: “The power sector privatisation exercise has not worked and has currently become a platform for official corruption.

    “We do not understand why this government will continue the fraudulent dishing of taxpayers’ fund to private entities to which it has sold its assets.

    “While we support any programme and actions that will lead to new investments in Nigeria, thus creating jobs for the citizens, we do not support half-baked, ill-conceived and politically driven projzects that are fraught with irregularities and corruption.”

    Ajaero canvassed the immediate passage of the National Minimum Wage bill into law as soon as the committee concludes negotiation.

    He said the minimum wage negotiation had dragged on for too long and the committee should endeavour to meet up with the deadline.

    “We also hope that all relevant agencies that should implement the new wage will do so as soon as the bill is passed,” he said.

    He urged Buhari to assent to the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill since it has already been passed.

    He further called on the government to release the certificate of the ULC so that the nation’s industrial relations clime would be inclusive and robust.

  • Labour leaders not involved in N62bn NSITF fraud, says Official

    The United Labour Congress ( ULC) said on Friday that no labour leader has been found culpable in the alleged misappropriation of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund ( NSITF) money.

    The ULC said this in reaction to a statement credited to the Ministry of Labour and Employment that those indicted in the NSITF fraud included leaders nominated by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA).

    Read Also: Labour pickets MTN over anti-workers policies

    The Minister, Sen. Chris Ngige, had on Feb. 15, 2017, set up an Administrative Panel of Inquiry to investigate an alleged misappropriation of N62.56billion spent in the NSITF between 2011 and 2015.

    However, six former directors of the NSITF were indicted and charged to Court by the EFCC, including the NECA representative.

    Mr Didi Adodo, ULC’s General Secretary in a statement in Lagos said that it was wrong to mention labour representatives when the EFCC had not indicted them.

    ”We disagree with the Minister. We want to state that no labour representative was found culpable,” Adodo said.

    He said that representatives of labour were neither indicted by the EFCC investigations of the Board nor by the subsequent Administrative Panel.

    ”There is no labour man involved in the alleged fraud. It is a gross misrepresentation of the facts or an outright mischief to have made such generalised statement.

    ”ULC hopes that the Minister was misquoted in that blanket statement or that he was unmindful of its overall implications before going to the press,” he said.

    The congress scribe advised the Minister to equally publish the names of the individuals indicted in the report to avoid raising unnecessary insinuations.

    He said that the Court records were there for any member of the public that would be interested in the matter to find out those indicted.

    He however commended efforts made to arrest those involved in the fraud, saying, “workers’ contributions cannot be mismanaged and we keep quiet as a responsible labour centre.’’

    Adodo pledged the support of the ULC any effort towards the recovery of the monies as workers constituted the major contributors to the fund.

    NAN

  • 65% of women unemployed, says ULC

    The United Labour Congress (ULC) has said the unemployment rate among women, which stands at 65 per cent, is unacceptable.

    Its President Comrade Joe Ajaero urged the Federal Government to ensure the rights of women and address hunger.

    Ajaero said: “Unemployment among women at around 65 per cent is unacceptable; sexual violence and abuse against the girl-child that suggest that 25 per cent of women experience this wickedness before the age of 18 is frightening.

    “Maternal mortality of about 145 deaths per day in Nigeria must be reduced. The killings in the northern part of Nigeria where majority of its victims are women and children should be addressed”.

    “We must take responsibility for the negative actions against our women. The continued silence in the face of this exclusion is conspiratorial and truly demonstrates our general attitude to critical issues that affect the development of Nigeria.”

    The labour leader said women could not continue to bear the brunt of the nation’s mismanagement, adding that if there was no thing the country could do, at least, it could take steps to protect women from the path of error, which men have chosen to tread.

    “How we treat our women tells the world who we are and how serious we hold the fabled quest for national development,” Ajaero noted.

    He said the participation of women in every facet of national life should not be treated trivially as was obtainable in the country; it should be pursued as a national priority.

    “If we understand that women make up a larger percentage of Nigeria’s population then, actions and behaviours or policies that subtly deny them unfettered participation in our national life are not only unpatriotic but must be held in contempt by all men of conscience,” he said.

    Ajaero urged women to seek the creation of platforms that would protect, project and serve as continuous advocacy instrument for pushing the frontiers of the struggle for women emancipation.

  • Strike notice: ULC is blackmailing FG to get registration – NLC, TUC

    Strike notice: ULC is blackmailing FG to get registration – NLC, TUC

    Organised Labour made up of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Friday accused the yet to be registered United Labour Congress (UCL) led by Joe Ajaero of blackmailing government into setting aside legal requirements to register them, and declare that only registered trade union and federations has the legal right to declare a strike.

    The NLC and the TUC said at a joint news conference in Abuja that the while the United Labour Congress which is yet to be registered has no legitimate right to call for a general strike, only the various unions have the right to call for a strike, adding that at the moment, none of the existing unions who are believed to be affiliates of the ULC have not declared any strike.

    Presidents of the NLC, Comrade Ayuba Wabba and TUC, Bobboi Kaigama asked workers to disregard the strike called by the ULC saying it violates the Labour of the country, pointing out that the real intention of the promoters of the ULC was to compel government to register them as the Federation of Trade Unions.

    Wabba describe the ULC ultimatum as a mere attention seeking gimmick, adding that they have also resorted to an exercise intent on blackmail with the ultimate goal of using this weapon to obtain registration, we feel constrained to making the following comments on the unfolding situation.

    He said “despite listing twelve (12) demands in their 11th September press statement, we have no doubt that those behind the ultimatum were only hoping to blackmail the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment to register their association as a central labour organisation, as they stated in their demand numbers 9-12..

    “We have no doubt the officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour would deal with the situation as the laws of the country governing labour relations are very clear on the procedure guiding registrations of Trade Unions and trade union centres.

    “Against the background of persistent mischief and dragging the names of our two centres to the mud by the promoters of the United Labour Congress, it has become pertinent to once again recall the events leading to their current desperation.”

    He said the promoters of the ULC have just collected forms for the registration of dozens of “shell trade unions or trade unions without membership”, adding that rather than wait to get registration, they just proclaimed their existence, perhaps because they know very well that by the extant laws-the Trade Union Act, and the Trade Union Amendment Act, there was no way they could get recognition and registration for the dozen or so “Shell Unions”.

    “These mushroom Unions were carried out of existing industrial unions. However, the Trade Unions Act CAP T14, LFN, 2004, Section 3 (2) provided that: “But no trade union shall be registered to represent workers or employers in a place, where there already exists a trade union”.

    “These fake Unions had not being registered, and would not be registered since all the areas have effective Union coverage presently that are affiliates of the NLC and TUC.

    “We had pointed out in our January 18th, 2017 letter to the Honourable Minister of the dangers posed by the activities of these erstwhile colleagues of ours, who rather than accept the decision of Nigerian workers to reject their leadership, are bent on creating anarchy in the industrial relations system in the country, by trying to register these mushroom and member-less Unions.

    “In the same letter, we had drawn attention to the fact that under the 2005 amendment to the section 34 of the Principal Act, it was clearly stated that a (new) federation of trade union(s) may be registered if (a) I (b): “it is made up of 12 or more trade unions, none of which shall have been a member of another registered federation of trade unions”.

    “The main promoters of the so-called new federation are individuals from NUEE and NUPENG both are affiliates of the NLC. By the extant law as passed just some years ago, they cannot form another federation.”

    On his part, TUC President, Kaigama said the Labour laws of the federation is very clear that un-registered trade unions and federation(s) are prohibited from functioning. Under this section, a federation of trade unions shall not come into existence until it is registered.

    He said “Our erstwhile colleagues are therefore trying to take advantage of the unstable security and industrial relation situation in the country to increase the tension and give bad name to trade unionism. 

    “Nigerians need to know that they are not a legitimate organisation recognised by the laws of our country. They are largely a collection of individuals who find it difficult to accept the will of Nigerian workers, as very clearly demonstrated during the March 12-13 2015 election that took place at the Eagle Square, Abuja in which they were roundly defeated.

    “We wish to state without equivocation that the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has acted within the confines of the law by not registering ULC and the phantom Unions they put forward.. No unregistered organisations or individuals can hold our dear country to ransom.

    “We urge the Federal Ministry of Labour and workers to discountenance the threats of this illegal association. The ministry must be steadfast in upholding the laws governing trade union practice in the country.”

  • Labour to protest planned removal of minimum wage from exclusive list

    The organised labour on Saturday said it would mobilise workers across sectors of the Nigerian economy to protest moves to remove minimum wage from the exclusive to a concurrent legislative list.

    Mr Joe Ajaero, the President, United Labour Congress (ULC) said at the pre-2017 May Day seminar organised by ULC, in Lagos.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the concurrent list stipulates that powers are shared jointly by both the central and regional or state governments as stipulated in the Constitution, even though both governments can make law on matters that fall under the concurrent list, the central government is supreme.

    This means that in case there is a conflict of law made by both governments, the law will supersede that of the regional or state government.

    The subject matter on the concurrent list includes health, agriculture, education, road and housing among others.

    According to Ajaero, the move is ill-motivated to deny workers their right to live well which is what some of the governors have been advocating but we will mobilise against them.

    He said that If the planned delisting of wage from the exclusive legislative list succeeds, it means that the country would no longer have a national minimum wage.

    “It means that each state of the federation will be empowered to legislate and arrive at what should be their respective minimum,’’ he said.

    The ULC leader recalls that the current minimum wage of N18,000 was signed into effect in 2011, by former President Goodluck Johnathan, subject to a review every five years.

    He said that labour since 2016, had been agitating for the review of the wage citing hyperinflation and the devaluation of the Naira which had continued to impact negatively on workers’ take-home pay.

    He said that workers not only deserved wage increase but better welfare package in both the public and a private sector.

    Ajaero said that the national economy was wobbling not because of Nigeria as a nation was poor, but because of deep-rooted corruption.

    “’This is why as a labour movement, we need to be in the streets to insist that working condition of the people must be improved.

    Prof. Pat Utomi, a professor of political economics, who also spoke at the symposium, said the labour movement had been docile.

    Utomi spoke on the topic, “The role of Trade Union Movement in Recessionary Economy’’.

    He was represented by Mr Adegbenro Rasheed, the Vice President, Centre for Value in Leadership.

    Utomi said that labour must unite in the advocacy for strong institutions and knowledge-driven leadership in Nigeria.

    According to him, leadership in modern societies no longer require only passion, but sound knowledge.

    He said there was the need for the government to enunciate policies and programmes that would take the economy out of recession.

    Also speaking, Professor Funmi Adewunmi, a guest lecturer said that part of the measures required to take the economy out of recession was increased production.

    Adewunmi said that this was in addition to exportation of goods and services that would enable the country earn foreign exchange.

    He said there was the need for the government to cut down on costs of governance by streaming certain agencies and parastatals of government which do not add value to the national economy.

  • Aviation unions disrupt Arik Air operations 

    Aviation unions disrupt Arik Air operations 

    … As management vows to take measures against illegal interference

     

     

    Three aviation unions comprising of United Labour Congress (ULC), National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE) on Thursday disrupted the operations of Arik Air.

    The union members arrived the headquarters of the airline as early as 4.00 am to literally to ground the operations of the airline.

    The union members carried out the picketing exercise despite   heavy police presence barricading entrance into the headquarters of the airline.

    A source hinted that under the instruction of the United Labour Congress, oil marketers were directed not to supply Jet A1 (Aviation fuel) to the airline as part of measures to press home their demands.

    The unions are picketing operations of the troubled Arik Air over the failure of the airline’s management to re-instate sacked union leaders and several other issues in the airline.

    Meanwhile, new management of Arik Air has threatened to take every legal measure at its disposal to stop any illegal interference on its operations.

    The new management of Arik Air while condemning the picketing of the airline, by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE),  Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and  National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE),   described it as illegal.

    A statement by the media consultant to the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria, AMCON on Arik Air, Simon Tumba stated that the motive of the picketing is unclear to management as the action of the unions is illegal.

    In his words: “It has come to the attention of the Arik Management, (under Receivership), that the Lagos State branch of National Union of Air Transport Employees  (NUATE),  Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and  National Association of Aircraft Pilot and Engineers (NAAPE)  has directed their members to picket Arik airline.

    We hasten to say that the motive of this picketing is unclear to Management and their action is therefore illegal”.

    Tumba explained further that: “It is a well-known fact that Arik is under Receivership following various challenges experienced over the last few years, which include delays and cancellations of flights, delays in payment of salaries and huge debts to trade creditors and suppliers, bad corporate governance and a host of others”.

    According to Tumba “In exercise of its statutory powers under the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) act a Receiver was appointed over the affairs of Arik Air on February 6, 2017. With the assistance of AMCON, salaries are being paid including backlogs, on time performance has improved from 15 percent to average of 80percent and fuel suppliers that hitherto quit doing business with Arik are happily doing business with the airline.

    “For the record, the management had engaged with its staff and is convinced that there is no reason to picket our airline, which is facing challenging times.

    “The focus of the Arik Air management is to stabilise the operations of the airline and enhance its ability to play a positive role in Nigeria’s aviation industry. Therefore the Management of the airline advises the unions to steer clear from undermining the operations of Arik Air. Management would take every legal measure at its disposal to stop any illegal interference with its operations.”