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Tag: workers

  • Housing: Deposits safe, NLC assures workers

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has assured workers and subscribers of the security of their deposits for the NLC-Kristone-Lally Housing Project in Abuja.

    In a statement, the  NLC President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, said the congress is doing everything possible to protect and secure the interests of the subscribers despite  alleged of a scam in the housing project.

    Omar said: “In its bid to promote workers’ welfare, the congress went into understanding with a number of developers to provide affordable housing for workers, one of such understandings was with Kristone –Lally with whom congress signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU).

    ”Based on this MoU and subsequent advertisement, a large number of workers subscribed to the project under the MoU, Kristone-Lally was to build specified housing types at agreed prices. The funding of the project was to be provided by financiers from abroad whom Kristone-Lally had identified.”

    The President said NLC was on its part to ensure that there were off-taken of the housing units by mobilizing workers to subscribe by paying some per centage of the price of desired house type stressing that NLC was happy with the overwhelming response of Nigerian workers to the advertisement of subscription to the housing project.

    He said that on the 4th of October 2013, NLC decided that further subscription and collection of money be stopped to enable the project consolidate and deliver the first phase of houses to those who had subscribed within the agreed timeframe of December 2014, adding that the congress’ decision was served on and acknowledged by Kristone-Lally.

    Omar said: “Congress became worried as the take –off of the project kept on being delayed. Due to the delay, a number of subscribers applied for a refund of their deposits.”

    He explained that in the process of processing the application for refunds, the officials of NLC encountered a bank teller which showed that a subscriber had paid the initial deposit into an account other than the advertised NLC-Kristone-Lally EPC account.

  • Judicial workers suspend strike

    Judicial workers suspend strike

    The resumption of the strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN), scheduled for the first week of October, has been suspended, the union’s National President, Comrade Marwan Mustapha Adamu, has said.

    It had set aside October 2 to resume the strike aimed at pressing home its demand for the implementation of the Federal High Court judgment on the financial autonomy of the judiciary. The union condemned the attack on a judge in Ekiti State and urged the government and the police to investigate the matter and punish anyone found guilty.

  • NIMC uncovers 600 fake converted workers

    NIMC uncovers 600 fake converted workers

    The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) said it has uncovered about 600 workers with fake letters of conversion on its payroll.

    It said the discovery came during a staff audit jointly conducted by the office of the Head of Service and NIMC.

    The affected workers who are largely those inherited from the defunct Department of Civil Registration (DNCR), the precursor to NIMC, are reported to have been queried accordingly.

    Also, investigation by our correspondent revealed that the fake letters of conversion were purportedly signed by Mr Salawu and Mrs Shosanya and issued to the affected workers ahead of their qualification for conversion. This, the investigation showed is against proper procedure for their conversion.

    Although background checks to avoid compromising the National I.D Database  is one of the conditions that NIMC carries out regularly,  some forces are alleged to be bent on scuttling  further investigation and application of disciplinary actions by NIMC.

    NIMC has however turned down request to shed more light on the development.

  • Govt warns striking workers

    Govt warns striking workers

    The Edo State government has threatened to sack all striking workers of the state-owned tertiary institutions, if they fail to return to work today.

    The coalition of unions has vowed to go on a street protest and directed all its members to ignore the threat, adding that government is not ready to address the issues.

    The affected institutions are College of Education, Ekiadolor; College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi; Institute of Management Technology, Usen and College of Education, Igueben.

    A circular on behalf of the Acting Registrar of the State College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi, O. Osawemwenze, said: “I’m directed to inform all striking members of your union that they resume duties today.

    “Interestingly, management has not defaulted in the payment of salaries.  I’m, therefore, to add further that any worker who refuses to heed to this directive will be sacked forthwith.”

    The president of the coalition, Fred Omonuwa, said: “We want the public to understand that the strike involves both academic and non-academic staffs of these institutions.

    “We have directed our members to ignore the government’s threat but should any worker be sacked, we don’t have any choice than to organise a mass protest to the Government House.”

  • Workers urge CBN to sanction banks over ‘fraud’

    Workers urge CBN to sanction banks over ‘fraud’

    The Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to probe the activities of  four banks (nams withheld) for allegedly mismanaging its accounts.

    Its President- General, Bede Opara, said two of the banks are first generation banks, while the other two are second generation.

    Opara said the development became necessary, following fraudulent transactions discovered in the accounts of the union.

    He said some senior officials of the association, had in 2003 opened account in their names in one of the banks, instead of the union’s name to warehouse the two per cent deduction from the severance package of the workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN).

    He said the development made the union to suspend the affected workers, adding that the association was later informed of the incident through a letter from the bank.

    He said: ‘’Immediately we received the letter, the secretary-general of the union and I went to the bank to open another account to negate the one opened by the suspended worker.

    The National Executive Council (NEC) at its meeting on February 21, this year constituted an Ad-Hoc Disciplinary Committee to probe allegation of financial misconducts of the workers. But before the committee could take off, the workers have gone to court to stop the investigation and further prevent the banks from cancelling the transaction.”

    He said the National Industrial Court sitting in Lagos had on July 9, this year dismissed the suit filed by the aggrieved members.

    Opara said the banks, in spite of the ruling, have neither effected changes on the accounts or honour transactions made by the association.

    According to him, the development informed the union’s decision to call on CBN to investigate the banks and sanction those that are culpable of the offence.

  • Otuoke varsity where workers are more than students

    Otuoke varsity where workers are more than students

    Otuoke Federal University located at the hometown of President Goodluck Jonathan in Ogbia, Bayelsa State, may be one of the fastest-growing newly-established federal universities in Nigeria. It is also perhaps having its fairest share of crisis among its contemporaries.

    The other day, students of the university trooped to the streets to protest hike in school fees questioning the leadership style of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mobolaji Aluko. The students barricaded the gate of the institution and paralysed academic activities on campus as they demanded among other things for a downward review of the fees.

    Not long ago, it was the turn of Otuoke, the host  community. Youths from the community marched the streets and shut down the campus. They invaded examination halls and chased away students writing their papers. Though normalcy was later restored to the campus, all is still not well between the university and its host community.

    The leader of the protest and Otuoke Youth President, Comrade John Godfrey, told the Niger Delta Report that the community was instrumental to the building of the institution, yet, it is not getting its dues.

    “We donated a vast area of land free of charge for the take-off of the institution. The community conducted a launching where everybody from 18 years and above was compelled to donate money for the construction of the take-off temporary sites of both the administrative block, academic blocks and the hostels,” he recalled.

    He noted that the community made the sacrifices hoping that the university after taking off would reciprocate the gesture.

    He said: “But the reverse is the case. Today, the Otuoke community has suddenly become beggars. They have to go on their knees to the VC and registrar to demand employment and admission.”

    He said the community would continue their agitation until its demands are met. According to him the university should consider Otuoke as part of the Federal Government by applying the principles of local content and federal character.

    He said the community desired the university to give it the percentage of employment and admission due it without hesitation. “Otuoke has less than five per cent of employees in the levels zero to six categories which falls below the principle of local content.

    “Otuoke has less than 0.5 per cent of senior staff. This is also against the principle of federal character,” he added.

    He accused the VC and registrar of sharing all the key positions among themselves without considering the community, the local government and the state. Godfrey further claimed that since inception, the university has only been able to admit eight students from the community.

    “Until now, the university has refused to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the host community. There is no person from the host community who is a member of the Governing Board.

    “Despite the huge sum of money sent to the school, there is nothing on ground to show that the school is growing infrastructure wise,” he said.

    Godfrey alleged that workers in the university were always underpaid, claiming that instead of N46,000 approved by the Senate for the least worker, the school pays only N24,000 monthly.

    He also said the school was yet to pay the 28 days working allowances to the workers.

    He added: “Students are also crying as a result of the outrageous school fees they pay. For instance, other schools ay N35,000 while Federal University, Otuoke pays N85,000 and N95,000 for Arts and Science students respectively.”

    But, the VC said the university had never failed to engage the host community on employment and admission matters within the ambit of the law.

    He said: “Community pressure will come up and we have handled them well. But we don’t want to be compelled and the academic activities of the students disrupted.

    “It is not the protest by the youths that forced us to listen but the need to sustain our community relations policy and not to allow community and student clashes.”

    Aluko explained that the institution has more members of staff on its payroll than the student population. There are 1,300 employees and a student population of 1,040, he said.

    Of the number, he said the employed indigenes of various communities in the state are 760 people with Ogbia and Otuoke community having 350 and 150 persons respectively.

    He further said the school had entered into an agreement with the community through the Paramount Ruler, Obanema of Otuoke.

    He said: “We have agreed to engage the indigenes based on the increasing requirements of employment in the next few months. The names submitted for employment were done without required qualifications and we have asked them to attach to the names their qualification and we will conduct interview to affirm competence.

    “We have informed them that we must be careful about fulfilling the Federal Character provision. It is possible we will increase our employment quota by 25 per cent due to our increasing needs but we must follow due process.

    “And we have also insisted that the admission slots given to the community and others must be in compliance with the provision of the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).”

     

  • Privatisation: Workers score BPE low

    Privatisation: Workers score BPE low

    The Steel and Engineering Workers’ Union of Nigeria (SEWUN) has scored the Bureau of Public Enterprise (BPE) low over its handling of the privatisation process in the country.

    Its National President, Comrade Elijah Adigun, who spoke at the union’s yearly Industrial Relations Conference held at the Teachers’ House,  Ibadan, said the BPE, saddled with the responsibility of selling partially and wholly owned Federal Government companies, has not done well.

    “The BPE that was saddled with the responsibility to sell partially and wholly owned Federal Government companies, ostensibly to increase capacity utilisation and create jobs for our teeming workforce must be ashamed of its achievement as nearly all the companies privatised have either closed shop or are comatose,” he said.

    Adigun cited the case of the steel industry, which has been comatose to include automobile companies such as Anammco Limited, Enugu; National Truck, Kano; Steyr Nigeria Limited, Bauchi and Leyland Nigeria Limited, Ibadan, designed for the manufacturing of trucks, medium and long range mass transit system because of the steel firm’s inability to supply raw materials to them .

    The country, he said, continues to deplete scarce foreign reserves to import needed vehicles for its mass transit system.

    He said whereas the Federal Government established Peugeot Automobile Nigeria (PAN) Limited and Volkswagen of Nigeria (VON) to provide the country’s official and pleasure cars, the aforementioned vehicle assembly plants are lying idle and their premises being used as warehouses for junks imported from Asia.

    Adigun faulted the claim by Volkswagen of Nigeria that it has begun assembling vehicles in the company, pointing out that such claims are mere publicity stunts to deceive the world.

    In a similar vein, the its Deputy General Secretary, Mr. Okonma Paul, said the essence of privatisation in the steel sector has been completely defeated, adding that the investor, who bought most of the steel manufacturing companies, does not know anything about the sector.

    The union, he said, has written the BPE on two occasions to show its disagreement on the way issues are being handled.

    Adigun also blamed the comatose state of the manufacturing sector on the epileptic power supply, describing it as one of the major hindrances to the growth of the sector.  He regretted that the cries of the union for improved power has received little or no attention from the concerned authorities.

    He said although every succeeding government claimed to have sunk billons of dollars to address the malaise,  but  the impact has not been felt in the industry, noting that, the situation has allegedly contributed to the crippling of the manufacturing sector  regarded as the hub of employment generation.

    “This is exactly the reason for the manufacturing division of most private sector companies’ relocation to neighboring countries, while bringing finished goods to our country. The implication is that our economy creates jobs for the home countries of manufactured goods at the detriment of our teeming workforce,” Adigun said.

    The high interest rate regime in the country, according to him, is crippling business and fuelling inflation in the economy. He added that the situation is further compounded by the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to commercial banks to retain 50 per cent of public sector funds in their custody.

    He said except this high cost of obtaining fund is addressed, the plight of the industrial sector will grow from bad to worse.

    Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Oyo State Branch, Comrade Bashiru Olanrewaju  urged steel  workers to improve their productivity because it is the only way to be competitive in the labour market, adding that the steel industry must be embraced for the country  to where it should be.

    “Our nation should get a functional and effective steel sector. If we must grow, we must also embrace Information and Communications Technology (ICT). We can also learn from other nations like China, Japan,” he said.

    He said about  30 years ago, nobody respected China and Japan. But today, they are respected because they have embraced the industry, developed their steel manufacturing industry.

  • Varsity gets workers’ ultimatum

    Varsity gets workers’ ultimatum

    The Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba is facing fire from academic and non-academic staff, who are threatening to go on strike by the end of the month if their demands are not met. MOHAMMED YABAGI (200-Level Mass Communication) reports.

    THOUGH the school just resumed for the second semester, the workers seem not bothered as they are raring to go on strike unless their demands are met.

    The academic and non-academic staff of Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba are threatening to down tools by the end of the month over the state of the institution and non-payment of their allowance.

    Last Thursday, academic and other activities were disrupted during a meeting of the Joint Action Committee (JAC), a unified body of all non-academic unions on campus. The congress came 48 hours after the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) met with similar agenda. They issued ultimatums, which they said the management and the Governing Council must comply with.

    JAC’s congress began with a minute silence in honour of the late former Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Idachaba.

    The JAC chairman, Comrade Moses Balogun, said members were tired of the prevailing workers’ condition, adding that the congress was organised to give the management for dialogue. Failure to reach out to the workers before September 30, Balogun said, would  lead to an indefinite strike.

    He said: “Members regret the current dilapidating situation that the institution is grappling with and we want the state government to intervene in the matter. The situation we are facing in this institution is nothing to write home about. We want the public to know that the management and Governing Council of the Kogi State University are killing the institution. Government must intervene in this matter before it is too late.

    “We are saddened to inform the public that just about six years ago, KSU was the best state-owned university in the country. It was the sixth best university among all universities, but in the last National Universities Commission (NUC) rating, the institution is ranked 111th of the 112 universities in the country.”

    Balogun, who noted that other state-owned schools, such as Nasarawa State University, Katsina State University and Kaduna State University, used to look up to the institution, wondered when things went wrong.

    He urged management to comply with the September 30 ultimatum for addressing workers’ grievances, failing by the non-academic workers, failure which would result in what he described as “total strike without looking back.”

    Balogun added: “In as much as we feel the pains of parents and students, the action is necessary because if we don’t take the action now, certificates of our graduates will not worth the value of common tissue paper.”

    The university’s ASUU chapter gave management up till September 29 to resolve what it described as “unacceptable situation the institution is facing”.

    Its chairman, Comrade Sylvester Okuteno, said members were worried about things in the university.

    Okuteno said: “The situation we are facing in this school is one that we never thought we would ever experience. It is unbearable. The university is dying, there’s need for urgent intervention. We cannot fold our arms and watch the conditions go worse.”

    Balogun said the JAC’s demands included non-payment of hazard allowance and arrears, responsibility allowance, excess tax on staff salaries, non-implementation of minimum wage and pension, non-implementation of excess workload allowance and staff/students ration.

    After the congress, JAC’s leaders led members on peaceful protests on major roads in Anyigba, chanting anti-management songs. They carried placards, some with unprintable expressions.

    Some of the protesters demanded the Vice Chancellor’s removal for “killing the university”, which they described as the pride of the Igala people.

    The protesters marched to the palace of the Ogohi of Anyigba, Alhaji Aliyu Okolo, to inform him of the “inhuman condition” in the institution.

    The workers said the Governing Council was more interested in promoting its selfish interest rather than the welfare of the staff.

    Balogun, who spoke on the protesters’ behalf, said: “Staff members are leaving the university in droves because their welfare is not being taken care of. When they leave and go elsewhere, they make their new workplace better than they met it through the experiences they garnered in KSU. That is one of the reasons why the standard of the university is on decline. We are saying enough is enough.”

    He presented the union’s demands and the alleged inadequacies of the management to the monarch for presentation to Governor Idris Wada.

    The traditional ruler pleaded with the workers not to do anything that would jeopardise the institution’s progress. He called for caution in the pursuit of their demands.

    The monarch praised the workers for their civility, promising that their letter would be forwarded to the governor.

    A member of the management, who pleaded anonymity, dismissed the workers’ demand as frivolous and mischievous. He said there were other serious issues the council and management are concerned about rather than the mischief of few individuals who think they can hold the institution to ransom.

    “They don’t have any problem with the school. They only have problem with the government, which they accused of overtaxing them. It is an issue on which management has written to government and government, in turn, has instructed the state internal revenue service to look into it. It is being looked into as I speak to you.”

    The source said the vice-chancellor would communicate the management’s position to the workers on Tuesday.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the Students’ Union Government (SUG), led by John Idachaba, has been meeting with the parties to ensure the issues are resolved amicably without the campus being closed down.

     

  • NUFBTE begins strike over sack of 65 workers

    The National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) has commenced an indefinite strike at Fan Milk Company in Ibadan over what it described as illegal termination of the appointment of over 65 members of the union.

    The union said its action was in conjunction with the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC) procedure.

    It called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to prevail on the mobile police officers in Ibadan, who have been assaulting the workers since the action began.

    Its National President, Comrade Lateef Oyelekan in a statement, said the management had mobilised five trucks of mobile policemen to the company to threaten the workers, who are only exercising their rights and have not embarked on any form of hooliganism.

    He noted that the union’s action  was as a result of a redundancy action carried out by the company  without discussing with the union.

    “The action of the management is unilateral, as the union was not privy to it and as such, it negates the contractual agreement we have with the company, hence it is null and void”, Oyelekan said.

    He explained that the company only wrote the union last Thursday on the issue, which the union replied that it would be available for discussion on September 22 after its National Executive Meeting (NEC).

    He said: “But we were baffled that the management could start distributing letters the following day, which means it was intentional and that is against industrial relations practice and Nigeria Labour Law.”

    The company’s action, according to him, could not have been unconnected with the union’s refusal of the Fan Milk’s management plan to cancel workers’ existing gratuities and move the accrued fund to a Swiss Bank.

    He said payment of gratuity in the sector is non negotiable as it is established at the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC), a negotiation body for both the employers and employees. He stressed that no employer in the sector can contradict or go against it.

    Meanwhile, the company’s Corporate Affairs Manager, Seyi Adetayo said the company has met with the union over six times since January this year on the issue of redundancy, and the union at each meeting never saw reason with the management on the need to carry out the exercise.

  • Computerisation not to sack workers, says NYSC

    The management of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), has said the on-going computerisation of the scheme was not to reduce its workforce.

    The Director, Corps mobilisation of the NYSC, Anthony Ani, who spoke with reporters  in Abuja on the recent controversy that followed the payment of N4000 for printing of NYSC call up letter and other services, said the payment was optional.

    He said the N4,000 was neither for the scheme nor the schools producing sending the corps members as alleged in some quarters.

    He said: “The NYSC scheme in a bid to improve its operation in line with globalisation takes advantage of cutting-edge technology and went into partnership with a private company, Messrs SIDMACH Technologies Nigeria Limited, for full computerisation of the mobilisation process of the scheme.”

    He said workers of the scheme that will educate prospective corps members on the full computerisation of the mobilisation process have already been sensitised.

    Ani said the deployment of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) became necessary in view of some irregularities associated with analogue method.

    The innovation, he said, would reduce stress associated with registration and collection of call up letters. The N4000 fee attached to printing of corps members call up letters, according to him, was for the infrastructure to be deployed by the firm.

    “It is noteworthy that while many people have lauded the project, a few others have raised observations on the payment of N4,000 by prospective members, who are to use the ICT platform to register,” he said.

    He explained that the project was on public-private partnership initiative, and that the company would build ICT infrastructure in all the states orientation camps, which would be linked to the one at the NYSC headquarters, in Abuja.

    For the past 41 years of its existence, Ani said the scheme had been handling mobilisation of corps members through analogue method, which is replete with all sorts of irregularities.

    “We cannot afford to rely on the old analogue system,” Ani maintained, adding: “All this will be a thing of the past, as we use cutting-edge technology to improve and enhance the content and character of all our operations.”