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Tag: workers

  • 91% of workers out of pension scheme

    91% of workers out of pension scheme

    About 91 per cent of workers are yet to key into the contributory Pension Scheme (CPS), Managing Director, Premium Pensions Limited, Wilson Ideva, has said.

    Ideva, who spoke with reporters in Lagos, said out of about 80million workers, the scheme has only  enrolled a subscriber base of 6.5 million.

    He noted that though the achievements are significant considering  that it is a new scheme, there was need for more persuasion and enforcement by the regulator.

    He said: “I believe that as an industry and as individual PFA (Pension Fund Administrator) , we need to do more on public awareness. If you look at 6.5 million, as against 70 million, that is about nine per cent penetration. This means that we still have 91 per cent untapped. You also look at the fact that it is a new scheme, so compliance level is low, which is expected. We in the industry are also worried about that.

    “You also consider that people are still worried and contending about what happened to the investment in the past, such as National Provident Fund (NPF) and other social security schemes which all failed.

    “When you look at the figure, it looks like the industry is still at a scratch; but we know that by the nature of Nigerians which has a lot of what you call family businesses, it will take a lot of persuasion and enforcement to get people to key into the scheme. We believe that much of that untapped potential lie within this highly informal sector and that is where the industry is going.”

    The Premium chief, however, said the regulators are worried about this and are fashioning ways to address the huge market that is yet to be tapped.

    He said the pension operators were expecting the regulator to release a guideline that would help to address the informal sector.

    He said this is important because there is no one that will not get old whether as fish seller in the market or a labourer, adding that when people get old, the only way they will be maintained is through some form of pension.

    According to him, the telcos are the most profitable anywhere in the world, stressing that people who are really spending money on telephony are not the upper class but people who are down the ladder.

    “If the regulator is able to programme their mind, and say you can drop N1, 000 every month for your pension, I believe that people will key into the scheme. Our return on investment is quite high and they would not get such rate of return if they were doing normal savings. The huge gap we are experiencing today between 70 million working population and 6.5 million enrolment is the difference between the people in the formal and informal sector,” he said.

  • Registrar, workers harp on dedication

    The Registrar, ACE Mr. Felix Aderinboye, has advised workers to rededicate themselves to discharging their duties to the over 50-years institution to aid its further development. Aderinboye gave the advice while addressing workers in the Registry unit.

    He said regular meetings being held are meant to interact with workers in order to foster mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence. Aderinboye, who praised them for their dedication to duty, also appealed for continued support and cooperation.

    He emphasised the need for them to constantly seek self development, assuring them that the school’s management would continue to provide an enabling environment for them to exhibit their skills maximally through capacity training, workshops and seminars.

    He assured them of the management’s determination to reward those who are diligent, faithful and hardworking through regular promotion, asking them to shun absenteeism and be punctual.

     

  • Textile workers urge Buhari to reactivate industries

    Textile workers urge Buhari to reactivate industries

    National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) has urged the president-elect, Gen Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) to prioritise the rejuvenation of comatose textile industries in the country when he takes over the affairs of the nation.

    Speaking with reporters yesterday in Kaduna, its  Secretary –General, Comrade Issa Aremu reminded Gen Buhari that it was part of his campaign promises toresuscitate dead textile industries across the country if voted into power.

    Aremu also tasked the president-elect to ensure that smuggling and counterfeiting of textile materials into the country were halted, adding that if such socio-economic activities were allowed to thrive, it would rub on his good image.

    He said: “We were encouraged during Gen Buhari’s campaign that he has resolved to revive textile and garment industry as part of his party’s overall strategy to re-industrialise the county and create mass employment for the millions of unemployed.

    “We recall that in the 70s and up to early 80s, (when General Buhari and his patriotic team were in power) Nigeria was the largest producer of different range of textile, garment and carpet products surpassed in production only by Egypt and South Africa. We are willing to partner with his administration to reinvent this sector which has propelled newly industrialised countries in recent times such as China, India, Balgadesh and Indonesia among others.

    He said: “Twenty-six out of the 36 states grow cotton of both long and short stable lengths; in addition as an oil-producing country, Nigeria boasts of a large polyester base.

    “Combined with the 170 million population rich in fashion and clothing and huge labour force of some 70 million potential workers, Nigeria has the potential of producing 1.2 billion meters of cloth per annum. When we factor the ECOWAS (economic Community of West African States) sub-regional market, Nigeria is a natural textile destination point in the world.

    “The major threat to the realisation of the great potential of Nigeria in textile production is high influx of counterfeit and smuggled goods. The real acid test of Gen Buhari’s incoming administration’s anti-corruption is how he frontally fight smuggling.

    “Over 90 per cent of Nigeria’s huge market size is dominated by smuggled and counterfeit goods, killing local companies in Kano, Kaduna, Lagos, Guzau, Aba and Port Harcourt, and millions of direct and indirect associated local jobs. In addition smuggling denies the government the much needed revenue in unpaid custom duties. While private sector is the engine of growth, it is the government that must “oil” this engine, failing which it will crash as it has with the textile industry.”

    He said all nations want to employ their youths, produce goods and services, overcome poverty and underdevelopment. To this extent, he said every nation protects its own industry, whether the industry is in ‘infancy’ or ‘adult-hood’adding that Nigeria cannot be different under Gen Buhari’s administration which has commendably raised expectations to fight unemployment and grow the economy.

  • Workers want railway rehabilitation sustained

    Workers want railway rehabilitation sustained

    Workers of Nigeria Railway Corporation have advised that the ongoing rehabilitation and modernisation of the railway transport sector be continued.

    In a congratulatory message to the President-elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), workers under the aegis of the Nigeria Union of Railway (NUR) Workers, expressed optimism that the sector would experience rapid development under the new administration.

    The union said: “There is need for the new administration to address the fate of the rail transport industry with a view to furthering the ongoing asset rehabilitation and modernisation of the industry.”

    The President-General, NUR, Mr. Raphael Okoro, called on the President-elect to come to the aid of Nigerian railway workers, whom he said has been subjected to poor remuneration over the years.

    The union had in the last one year been calling for improved living wage and condition of service for its members as well as sufficient manpower for effective running of the railway transport system in the country.

    Okoro said: “Considering his unbending patriotism and quest for national development, I am confident and hopeful that Nigerian railway will fare considerably better under the administration of General Buhari.

    “What it takes to take Nigeria to higher level of national development and stronger integration is a functional and effective rail transport system. I strongly believe that what determines the extent a country like Nigeria can go in terms of development is its commitment to attaining rail infrastructural proficiency.”

    He recalled that over the years, the Federal Government has spent several billions of naira on the asset rehabilitation and re-equipping of the Nigerian Railway without any impact on the welfare and liveability of the workers. According to him, the workers who will put the multi-billion equipment to use still grope in poor remuneration and welfare.

    He added that railway workers’ welfare and remuneration should be of great concern to the President-elect in order to attract skilled and employable Nigerians to the industry and make the sector the highest employer of labour.

  • Aregbesola and Osun workers

    SIR: The observations by Tunji Omofoye in the Sunday edition of The Guardian on the 22nd of March overlooks, perhaps because of the constraint of space, certain critical issues relating to the fiscal climate in the state of Osun. Like every other head of a federating unit in Nigeria, Governor Rauf Aregbesola is operating with one arm tied behind his back. This is because of the debilitating effect of our anti-federalist fiscal operating system that cannot be over stated. This is why the issue of restoring fiscal federalism is so crucial not just in this election but for the sake of restoring balance in our economy.

    Everyone is of course aware of the collapse of the country‘s main source of revenue. This alone highlights the fiscal imbalance. However pre dating the downturn, Aregbesola had been pro- active and admirably so.

    In spite of the constraints, he was the first to offer the national minimum wage of N18, 001. This is worth stressing for the very concept and applicability of a national minimum wage in a federal system is contentious.

    Nevertheless, even though he inherited a bloated civil service with over 40000 personnel Aregbesola has resolutely refused to‘ right- size. ‘

    On the contrary, salaries were consistently paid before the end of the month. He valiantly and without prodding paid 13th month salary consecutively since 2010, reflecting the instinct of a committed progressive.

    It has to be stated here that a salary bill of N3.6 billion a month is not an easy proposition at the best of times, not to talk of now when allocation from the Federation Account dropped from N4.6 billion to a little over N1 billion, a shortfall of more than 75 per cent. Up and against it from day one, Aregbesola has pushed up Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) up from N300 million a month to N1billion. This has required ingenuity in a tight fiscal climate in which massive investment in the physical and social infrastructure has also had to be made in order to re-balance the economy as well as to enhance the future outlook of the state.

    As a committed social democrat what Aregbesola resolutely refuses to contemplate let alone carry out is lay- off workers. For this reason, it is on record that all categories of workers have expressed solidarity with the governor. They do not have a doctorate in political economy but they are astute enough as to know the cause and effect.

    As we speak, a committee made up of government officials and labour leaders in the state are working their socks off to come up with means of shoring up revenue in the state, in a way that will not hurt the poor. The talk of discord between the government and labour unions is therefore laughable. There is no such discord. Every party understands the situation and is willing to work hard and come up with solution.

    This is why, from day one, the emphasis has been on cost rationalisation by slimming down on the machinery of government through the elimination of duplication, waste, inefficiencies and corruption.

    As is to be expected, truth is the first casualty. What is being owed is three months’ salaries and not five months. And sorting it out is what disturbs Aregbesola‘s sleep. Across the board, a new edifying alternative perspective has been implemented in the state of Osun, which has repositioned the state and made life more tolerable for all.

    This is why future historians will divide the analysis of the state into two segments; pre and post Aregbesola and  the difference is clear. A temporary hiccup clearly beyond the control of a state government, which is the result of dysfunctional system, cannot be used as a battering ram against Aregbesola. The people are simply not ready to be fooled and bought over with fairy tales and propaganda.

     

    • Kanmi Ademiluyi,

    Lagos

  • Factional NLC reaffirms commitment to workers unity

    The splinter group of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has reaffirmed its commitment to the unity of the union despite the crises that rocked its recent elections in Abuja, adding that they will give special attention and exhaustive consideration to the worker’s working condition.

    The group had on 19th March, 2015 held its special delegate conference in Lagos and elected its leaders after rejecting the result of the March 12, 2015 elections conducted in Abuja.

    In a communique signed by Segun T. Esan, for Secretary General, the group said the powers and influence of NLC in terms of the defense of workers’ rights has been at its lowest level in the last four years under the leadership of the former president Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar

    “We reaffirmed our commitment to defending the rights of workers to freedom of association and collective bargaining as enshrined in our constitution and labour laws. We pledged to assert the right of the workers to join the union and ensure that no employer obstructs and deny Nigerian workers their inalienable rights. This has become imperative because the powers and influence of NLC in terms of the defense of workers’ rights and the poor and the oppressed in our country has been at its lowest level in the last four years under the failed leadership of Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar.

    “NLC under Abdulwaheed Omar lost focus, direction, discipline, sense of duty and commitment to the cause of the working people as manifested in the area of increased casual/contract employment; failure to ensure the full implementation of the N18, 000 minimum wage and failure to render services to Nigerian workers and affiliates with regards to health and safety,” the communique read.

    The splinter NLC union which attended the special delegate conference in Lagos included: National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), National Union of Petroleum & National Gas (NUPENG), National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN), National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution Employees (NUBIFIE), Metal Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (MEPROSSAN), National Union of Post and Telecommunication Employees (NUPTE), National Union of Printing, Publishing and Paper Products Workers (NUPPROW), National Union of Shop and Distributive Employees (NUSDE), Nigeria Union of Civil Service Secretariat Stenographic Workers.

    Others are: Nigeria Union of Mine Workers (NUMW), Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NUR), Steel& Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria (SEWUN), Iron & Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ISSAN), Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institution (ASSBIFI), Nigeria Welders and Filters Association, Academic Staff Union of Research Institutions, Lottery Workers Union, Agric and Allied Employees Union of Nigeria.

     

  • We’ve no plan to sack workers – Ogun govt

    We’ve no plan to sack workers – Ogun govt

    The Ogun State Government has refuted the allegation by the Presidential Campaign Organisation (PCO) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that it was planning to reduce the size of the work force if Governor Ibikunle Amosun is re-elected next month.

    In a statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Yusuph Olaniyonu, the Government described the allegations as false, wicked, baseless and reckless. It particularly condemned the statement as a design to create panic by a desperate party facing certain defeat at the forthcoming polls. It further stated that not only were there no plans to retrench workers but that a fresh recruitment exercise was at advanced stage.

    “We have no reason to reduce the size of the work force because the workers remain an integral part of the successful pursuit of our Mission to Rebuild Ogun State. Indeed, our assessments have indicated need for additional personnel in key areas. They have contributed to the visible developments in our state.

    “That is why despite the fact that the immediate past government defaulted on its salary wage bill which was about N4bn just before the advent of our administration, we have successfully coped with the increase in the total public sector wage bill to N6.2 billion a month and we have paid the workers up to date.

    “Again, we have not only cleared the backlog of salaries and deductions inherited from the last PDP administration, we have also paid 42 months deductions without any hitch. We now have an arrangement with workers on how to pay the outstanding ones and that was one of the agreements we reached with the workers during our last interactive session with them,” the Government stated.

    It added that the present administration in Ogun State is worker friendly and that is why it has recruited over 20,000 workers into the various sections of the public service in the last three and half years.

    The Government added that workers themselves know the difference between Governor Amosun and the PDP leadership which is represented by former Governor Gbenga Daniel who in a recent radio interview described Ogun State Workers as “naive, ignorant and gullible.

    “We insist that from our experience and interaction with the workers, Ogun State civil servants in particular, and the people in general, are very sophisticated and hard working. They, in fact, have a rich tradition. The workers know who best represents their interests. They know the difference between now when public resources are devoted to public works, and the past, when government institutionalized corruption, oppression and insecurity,” the government noted.

    It further assured the workers that the Amosun administration will continue to protect their interests by giving them their dues and that the size of the service would continue to grow so that the state can cope with the challenges from its emerging modern economy.

    The Government further advised the people to ignore the falsehood being dished out by the opposition whose leaders obviously hold the people in contempt and are definitely manifesting their frustration after being rejected by the people.

     

  • No plan to sack workers in Osun – APC

    No plan to sack workers in Osun – APC

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun has debunked the rumour that Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is planning a massive retrenchment of senior civil servants on grade level 12 and above, including other workers above the age of 50 from the state’s employment after the general elections.

    In a statement from the party’s Directorate of Publicity Research and Strategy, the APC described the rumour as, “the usual silly spin of falsehood characteristic of PDP’s evil genius for manufacturing and propagating wicked lies especially in the State of Osun.”

    According to the APC, “at no time did Aregbesola contemplate to retrench any staff of any grade or age, and no such thing will be allowed to happen any time soon or in the future.

    “From day one, the policy of “gainful employment” of the APC governor, Rauf Aregbesola, had been, continues to remain and will be the intensified mantra of the party in the months and years ahead.

    “The only monstrous obstacle to this policy,” the APC contended, “is the evil construct of the PDP-led federal government in starving Osun State of its legitimate statutory funding.

    “Not many people knew, until Governor Fashola of Lagos State revealed recently, that to further starve APC states in particular of funding assistance, the PDP Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala ordered the banks not to help fund state government projects.

    “This kind of frustrating impediment is what the PDP is using to force states of the opposition to look for ways to overcome deliberate strangulation, through forced retirement of workers.

    “But the APC government is more innovative and constructive than the PDP had imagined.

    “Rather than contemplate retrenchment as the PDP was scheming, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is planning the creation of more jobs for the people; and one of the ways, indeed the most effective way to achieve this for Nigerians is to defeat the PDP on March 28 and April 11 Presidential and general election,” the APC said.

    “The evil that the PDP has become, through its promoting of massive corruption in the system, has brought Nigeria to its knees,” the APC argued, adding that, “Unless Nigerians as a people remove this obstacle to their progress and well-being, their suffering will deteriorate.”

    The APC therefore, alerted the people of Osun not to fall for the lies of the PDP because their purpose is to mislead, confuse and confound the masses to get them to vote for this same party that has turned Nigeria into the hell of a place that it is today.

  • TUC urges workers to defend democracy

    The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has tasked   workers to defend the nation’s democracy by collectively making necessary sacrifice to ensure that the forthcoming general elections hold as scheduled by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) without chaos.

    The Congress also called on Nigerians to resist the temptation of exchanging their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) for money as some politicians are said to be buying PVCs as a way of disenfranchising  them.

    TUC’s President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama spoke during an interactive session with reporters in his office while sensitising workers on the need to participate in the coming rescheduled general elections  by INEC.

    He said: “We call on Nigerian workers to do everything possible to defend the nation’s democracy by collectively making necessary sacrifice to support  the government  to ensure the coming general  elections hold as scheduled by INEC without chaos.

    “We use this opportunity to call on Nigerians to resist the temptation of exchanging their PVCs for money as some politicians are said to be buying PVCs as a way of denying them their right to vote,” the TUC chief said.

    In a related development, TUC has appealed to the Federal Government and the military authority to temper justice with mercy on the soldiers that were condemned to death by a military court marshal.

    In a statement, its President, Comrade Kaigama and Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal, said:  “Justice, they say, serves a better societal purpose when tempered with  mercy. And indeed, the quality of mercy is not strained. It is twice blessed. It blesses he that gives and he that takes.”

    The Congress also commended the Nigerian Army for its recent victory in reclaiming the country’s soil from the Islamic terrorists group, Boko Haram.

    The Congress, however, charged the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant-General Kenneth Minimah, to  reward soldiers as promised during his recent visit to Baga town in Kukawa Local Government Area of Bornu State.

  • Workers accuse Lagos of planning to sell water firm

    Workers accuse Lagos of planning to sell water firm

    DESPITE management’s refuttal of plans to privatise Lagos Water Corporation (LWC), the workers yesterday protested at the governor’s office in Alausa, Ikeja, urging him to stop the proposed sale.

    In branded blue polo shirts and face caps, the protesters under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE) disrupted traffic on Obafemi Awolowo Way as they marched to Governor Babatunde Fashola’s office.

    Carrying placards, with inscriptions such as, “We say no to privatisation, water is our right”, “Water is for the people, not business”, “We say no to sale of our common assets” and “Holloway, who do you represent?”, they said government was hiding under the guise of Public Private Partnership (PPP) to privatise the corporation.

    Last week, LWC Managing Director Mr Shayo Holloway, said that there was no plan to sell the corporation, stressing that LWC is only partnering with some firms under the PPP Law of 2004 to execute its master plan to increase potable water production.

    Holloway said the master plan would discourage the sinking of boreholes, adding that the multi-billion dollars project would provide surplus potable water to people at a cheap rate.

    But, the protesters said the PPP agreement would lead to LWC’s privatisation and workers’ retrenchment.

    Chanting solidarity songs, they said private firms have no business providing a service the government can handle. But the protesters could not see the governor who was said not to be in the office. They dropped their protest letter at his security post.

    Lagos AUPCTRE chairman Comrade Subair Muali said the workers would resist plans to sell off the corporation’s facilities to private firms.

    Subair, who noted the protest was not politically motivated, said the union had been engaging the government over the matter for the past five years. He accused Holloway of initiating the planned privatisation, saying the government wanted to hide under the PPP guise to sell off the 105-year-old asset.

    He said: “They can use any name to sell off public assets to private owners, we know it is privatisation. Holloway has been telling us that they are into Public Private Partnership, but we know his motive. How can you expect an individual to invest his money in producing potable water for the people without him wanting to take over the corporation asset?

    “Their aim is to retrench workers after they sell the water corporation asset to private investors. We do not trust their argument that they are not selling the corporation. We want the Lagos State government to know that water is not for sale; it must remain a social commodity to be provided by government to the people. We will not stop the protest until Holloway desists from his move to sell our common asset to his cronies.”

    The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) chairman in Lagos, Comrade Idowu Adelakun, said the workers would not stop until Holloway stops his “anti-people” policies at LWC.

    He said: “Lagos citizens and workers are rejecting privatisation of water in Lagos State. We have seen results of where privatisation has taken place; none has ended with good stories. This is why we want Governor Fashola to stop the secret sale of our assets to private individuals, because we don’t want the calamity that befell other government assets to fall on Lagos Water Corporation.”