The Nation Newspaper

Tag: workers’ welfare

  • Trade Union hails governor for workers’ welfare

    Trade Union hails governor for workers’ welfare

    Trade Union leaders in Lagos State have hailed Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for improved welfare of the state workers.

    The Chairman of the State Public Service Joint Negotiating Council (NJC), Obafemi Oyenubi, spoke at a retreat for trade union leaders in Lagos State at Epe.

    The union leader said Lagos had continued to lead other states by showing how workers should be treated.

    He noted that though there were issues that still needed to be resolved, Lagos remained the best labour-friendly state in Nigeria.

    Oyenubi said: “We appreciate our governor for changing Lagos from a mega city to a smart city. Truly, Lagos is positively moving. It is gratifying to note that our state is rated the best labour-friendly state in Nigeria.

    “There is mutual understanding and relationship for peaceful coexistence between the unions and the state government. Though there are issues to that still need to be addressed, as far as we are and other Nigerians are concerned, Lagos remains the best labour-friendly state.

    “Our government, through the governor’s efforts, ensures that workers’ welfare is a priority. This is the joy of those of us who are labour leaders in the state.

    “Governor Akinwunmi Ambode takes salary payment seriously, and welfare is even more paramount to him. There is a lot of difference between salary and welfare. It is not only salaries that workers need to check. There are a lot of other things that are beneficiary to us than even giving us N60,000 minimum wage. The governor has created, through his infrastructural development, an enabling environment for us to work.”

  • Prioritise workers’ welfare, Waba tells governors

    Prioritise workers’ welfare, Waba tells governors

    •NLC chief begs Amosun to reinstate sacked union chair

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) National President Ayuba Waba has urged governors to make workers’ welfare their priority.

    Waba said some states had enough resources to adequately cater for the welfare of workers but failed to attend to their needs because they did not make the issue of workers welfare a priority.

    The NLC president spoke yesterday in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, at the opening of the meeting of the union’s National Executive Council (NEC).

    He said workers are partners at ensuring good governance and political stability, adding that governors should encourage them by paying their salaries and allowances promptly.

    Waba said: “It is not that some states cannot pay their workers’ salaries as and when due, but it depends on their priority. Some governors see workers’ welfare as a priority, while some others do not.

    “However, it must be stressed that workers are partners in the Nigerian project. We believe in good governance and stability of the polity. We will support the Federal Government on good governance and political stability.”

    The NLC president lauded the Ogun State government for prioritising workers’ welfare through prompt payment of salaries.

    But he urged him to clear the backlogs of deductions from the workers’ pay.

    Waba urged Amosun to reinstate the sacked labour leader in the state (the state NLC chairman), Akeem Ambali, saying the governor should “forgive and forget”.

    Ambali praised Amosun for making Ogun State an investors’ destination of choice through infrastructural development.

    Amosun pledged to continue to make workers’ welfare his priority, adding that his administration would ensure regular payment of their salaries.

     

  • Workers welfare not properly captured in budget, says NLC

    Workers welfare not properly captured in budget, says NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has alleged that workers’ welfare is not properly captured in the 2017 national budget.

    Its President Ayuba Wabba spoke with reporters yesterday in Abuja.

    “Our budget system is not transparent enough, if you look at the estimate of this year budget, a lot of issues have arisen, especially the allocations for capital and current expenditure.

    “But importantly, the fact also is that a lot of issues pertaining to the welfare of workers have not been properly captured.

    “On the issue of pension, we are very certain and convinced because there is a liability presently of over N300 billion that is supposed to be accommodated in the budget for the payment of pensions.

    “Especially the contributory pension scheme which actually we have interfaced with the leadership of the National Assembly to try to see how this can be accommodated.

    “And we are all aware that this has not been captured adequately. There are also some earned allowances which also have not being earned but a portion of it has being provided in the budget.

    “So, in terms of how the budget directly affects the workers, I think some of the issues certainly have not being captured very effectively,” he said.

    On the overall performance of the 2017 budget, Wabba noted that time was of essence.

    He, however, decried the late implementation of the budget, saying that substantial time has been lost in the preparation that ought to have taken effect.

    “Therefore our position is whatever needs to be done, needs to be done properly.

    “Especially, the capital projects that have to do with putting in place our very importantly critical infrastructure need to receive the most desired attention.

    “So that those issues can then kick start the economy and then stimulate the economy and create jobs for the teeming unemployed youth in the country.

    “Because, one, we are not producing and ones those critical sectors are not working then we will remain in pathetic situation that we will not be able to get out of it,” the NLC president said.

    Wabba added that the process and the manner of implementation of the national budget has certainly not being encouraging to Nigerians.

    He noted that a study of the figures in the budget shows that, major priorities were given to areas that do not address the fundamental issues that Nigerians are passing through.

    “I think there is a need for a transparent budget process where it would start very early and it will be open for public scrutiny and also the input can be made into the process.

    “This will be able to address the very critical issues of our development, because if you look at some aspects of the budget, the overhead seems to be much more than the capital budget.

    “I think that is not good for us, that is not good for our system and that is why we are in this situation,’’ according to Wabba.

  • Worker’s Day: Buhari committed to workers’ welfare, says Ngige

    Worker’s Day: Buhari committed to workers’ welfare, says Ngige

    President Muhammadu Buhari is committed to enhancing the welfare of workers, Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has stated.
    He saluted the resilience of workers and hope for a better future in the face of the current economic challenges.
    The minister said the president was doing everything humanly possible to improve the welfare of workers with several programmes in place to actualise that.
    In his 2017 May Day message, Ngige felicitated with the workers over the celebration.
    In a statement by Deputy Director, Press in the Ministry, Samuel Olowookere, the Minister said: “The federal government is not unaware of the economic challenges facing Nigerian workers in the public, the private and informal sector of the economy.
    “Mr. President is committed to the enhancement of workers’ welfare, through programmes like the Federal Integrated Staff Housing Scheme (FISH), creation of enabling environment to stimulate the economy with the aim of improving the social-economic wellbeing of Nigeria in all sectors of the economy.”
    He solicited continued support of the workers to the change agenda, especially in the fight against corruption.

  • Kudos to Ajimobi on workers’ welfare

    SIR: From inception, the Ajimobi administration in Oyo State gave priority attention to workers’ welfare in the realization that the engine room of any government is its civil service.

    Without a competent civil service which is a necessary condition for effective and efficient administration, nothing meaningful can be achieved because an inept civil service would not only frustrate the implementation of laudable policies and initiatives, it would render the government dead on arrival.

    This must have informed government’s decision to lay great emphasis on training and retraining of civil servants. It is to the credit of the Ajimobi government that over 40,000 civil servants across the state have been subjected to various training programmes both locally and internationally.

    For the first time in the history of the state, government did not only provide free transport service for its workers, but also considerably improved the environment in which they work. This great gesture by government has significantly reduced workers’ transportation burden.

    Other areas of comfort zone for workers include among others: Payment of the arrears of 142 percent increase to pensioners; Payment of 13th month salary to workers in the state since 2011; 100% upward review of Housing Loans for Civil and Public Servants from N1m to 2m.;  150% upward review of car loans to civil and public servants from N200,000 to N500,000.

    Others include raising the bar of graduate primary school teachers from GL 14 to 15; Gazetting of the employment of public primary and secondary school teachers; Lifting of stagnation bar for typists in the Civil Service that had stagnated for over 10 years on GL 09 to GL 12, with re-designation to Secretarial Assistants, etc.

    Senator Ajimobi who the civil servants through their chairman, Joint Negotiating Council, Nurudeen Arowolo once described as never-seen-before worker-friendly governor has also revealed that part of his continuity agenda would be to continue to explore all possible avenues to make life more worth living for the workers in general who he said deserved even more, given their unflinching cooperation and support for his administration.

    The workers therefore must give unwavering and total support for the second term aspiration for Governor Ajimobi.

     

    • TolaAdeoya,

    Opoyeosa, Ibadan, Oyo State.