The Nation Newspaper

Tag: workers

  • NPA workers protest BPE’s planned concession of marine service

    Nigerian Port Authority (NPA) workers have risen against the planned concession of the firm marine services by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).

    The Senior Staff Association (SSA) said the service was the only thing left for NPA after its concession in 2006.

    Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, the association’s President, Comrade Umar Omeiza Jimoh, said the BPE’s decision as contained in a letter addressed to NPA Managing Director on Janaury 18, would amount to re-concessioning of concessioned services under public-private partnership (PPP).

    NPA, he said, was healthy and carrying out the services beneficially for the nation, adding that there is no need for BPE to concession the service.

    He said: “The move of BPE to snatch marine/harbours ancillary services from NPA has no legal backing and the port activities enable NPA to involve PPP in all its service. BPE should remember that the terminals concesioned by BPE, NPA and other government agencies was done under the Port Act of 1999. Based on the above premise, we believe BPE is suffering from reactive declining syndrome.

    “NPA is healthy and we are on top of maritime business. BPE should flash its touch light on areas it has not performed well like NITEL, PHCN and others not NPA,” he said.

    Jimoh described BPE as an agent of some cabal in the government working to take over NPA and give it to their children.

    He said the concession, carried out, would lead to security threat, loss of government revenue, high cost of services, mass sack and denial of common user facilities in the ports.

    Jimoh urged the National Assembly to stop BPE from going ahead with the plan

    He said: “The country has witnessed enough insecurity in the recent past. With her marine and harbours in the hand of private operators, one can imagine the chaos this will trigger security-wise.Gideon Okar’s coup issue should be remembered.

    “Today, the government is earning revenue in its totality from services of marine/harbours and its ancillary services to the port users, if given to private hands, revenue coming to government will reduce tremendously while the cabals will be smiling to the bank and government will be strangulated. NPA has been effectively performing her responsibility in rendering money to Federal Government account as when required,” he said.

     

  • Curricula review for health workers

    I was at an event last week during which the Provost of the College of Medicine, University of Lagos, Prof Folashade Ogunsola, said it had reviewed its curriculum to train doctors who would be more impactful on the society. She rightly noted and I quote:

    Everybody’s life is touched by a doctor, a nurse, a physiotherapist, and we are the ones who produce these health workers. We lay the foundation and if we do not do it right, there is nothing that happens afterwards that we would be able to sort out.

    If it has not already been done generally, the curricula used to train doctors and other health workers need to be upgraded to include empathy for their patients, good human relations, ability to work under pressure, emergency response, and crowd management. I know little of the curriculum for medical students, but I would suggest that these areas be discussed in an entire course.

    When I searched online, I found that the Stanford University School of Medicine curriculum offers a programme that is focused on helping doctors develop human values in addition to their skills

    “The Educators-4-CARE (E4C) Programme was established to enhance the development of medical students as skilled and compassionate physicians. E4C provides a formal curriculum aimed to foster the development of some of our core values – Compassion, Advocacy, Responsibility, and Empathy – from the beginning and throughout medical school.” (http://med.stanford.edu/md/curriculum/)

    In the Nigerian health care sector, public hospitals are more trusted than the private because they boast of specialists in different fields of medicine. Their health workers are also more experienced probably because of the high number of varied cases they treat daily. Many private hospitals lack the required expertise to treat complication in various areas of medicine. Those that do are usually priced higher than the average Nigerian can afford.

    Sadly, it is in the public hospitals we are forced to run to that we experience the worst treatment. That is where nurses bark at patients, pharmacists ignore you when you’re asking questions, and doctors speak to you as if your case is not important. They have no time for assurances, they are impatient when you break down or complain of pain, and sometimes treat you as if you are dumb.

    This is not to put down any medical worker. Even many of those that are snobbish are truly hard working and display commendable expertise in their fields. However, their poor attitudes make it difficult to appreciate those qualities truly worthy of praise.

    Before qualifying to ply their trade, medical, nursing, pharmacy students, and others who work in the laboratories, administration and the like, should be made to visit hospitals to note behaviours they should not emulate when they start dealing with patients. I have witnessed such behaviours in emergency situations that make me pray that I or my loved ones do not experience emergency or referral cases that would leave us at the mercy of nurses and doctors with no drop of empathy in their blood.

    Trainee health workers should be taught to wear the shoes of their patients. Where poor health is concerned, patients are psychologically affected. They worry about many things like the possibility of losing relatives, finding money to pay bills and buy drugs, and coping with an invalid after hospital stay. These concerns are troublesome enough to be complicated by dealing with unfeeling and bad mouthed health workers who leave patients feeling more miserable.

    Sometimes when patients call a nurse’s attention to a problem, they are ignored. The reaction may be because the nurse is busy with other patients, assesses the situation visually and feels it not serious, or because she is attending to fickle matters like conversing with a colleague. Even when busy, nurses should be taught to respond, telling the questioner to be patient or allaying their fears.

    Anybody that signs to be a health worker should realise that he has signed to take care of people. We all know the attributes of a caring person. We want to see more of them in our hospitals. Medical educators should start preparing them for this role from school.

  • Workers petition commissioner

    THE Delta State Commissioner for Energy, Charles Emetulu, has been urged to investigate the ‘disappearance’ of a 200 KVA diesel generating set at the Rural Development Agency (RDA) in Asaba, the state capital.

    In a letter, some workers of the ministry said the new generating set, which was removed on December 20, was among the 14 bought to be used in riverine areas in 2004.

    They said of the number, 12 were allocated while two were left at the old Deputy Governor’s Office until they were brought to the agency, following the theft of their electrical components.

    The workers said they observed that on December 21, one of the generating sets had disappeared from the agency’s store.

    A query was issued to the store man by the Director of Admin/Finance.

    But Emetulu said he was not aware of any missing generating set but confirmed that a letter was sent to his office.

    He said he has directed the permanent secretary to investigate the issue.

     

  • Institute’s workers protest non-payment of allowances

    Institute’s workers protest non-payment of allowances

    WORKERS of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T) in Ibadan have protested the non-payment of their allowances.

    The workers were made up of representatives drawn from the institute’s chapters of ASUU, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities and Non-Academic Staff Union.

    Other members were drawn from the Senior Staff Association of Universities, Teaching Hospitals, Research Institutions and Associated Institutions as well as the National Association of Academic Technologists.

    The Chairperson of IAR&T chapter of ASUU, Dr Olufunmilayo Ande, said the workers were protesting against the non-payment of the approved hazard allowance arrears and the refusal of the institute’s management to pay the transfer allowances of those that were recently moved as well as entitlements of those newly appointed.

    Ande said the funds were over N177.5 million.

    “We do not have students here as the bulk of our work is research, but most of those who work here are teaching staff of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, the institute’s administrative supervisory agency.

    “It is very saddening that since 2009, there has been no meaningful research work carried out here, especially since June 11, 2012 when workers here have been on strike.

    “The strike is centred on the non-payment of arrears of our hazard allowances to the tune of N177, 571, 609.50 approved by the council of the university on December 13, 2010,” Ande said.

    She said the Agricultural Research Council of Nigeria (ARCN) and OAU had set up separate investigation panels on the issue since September and October 2012.

    The union leader said the reports were, however,still pending.

    But Prof. Bamitale Omole, the Vice Chancellor of OAU said the management was working on the matter and the issues would be addressed soon.

    According to him, the protest is understandable as the institute had been rocked by industrial crisis for some months.

    The vice chancellor, however, said that this had not affected productivity.

    “We are aware of the staff grievances and this was why three separate panels were set up by the supervisory agencies of IAR&T to look into the matter.

    “The panels set up by OAU, ARCN and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development are yet to come out with their findings which is the stage we are in.

    “When these reports are released, another committee would be set up to come out with an integrated white paper report which would be open to all.

    “We will implement whatever the report says but until then we can do nothing.

    “The staff themselves can always testify to my fairness in relating with them,” Omole said.

  • Oyo workers get free transportation

    Civil servants in Oyo State will enjoy free transportation services to and from their offices with effect from January, next year.

    Governor Abiola Ajimobi announced this during an interactive session with workers at the House of Chiefs, Parliament Building, Ibadan.

    He said the government has bought some buses for the purpose, adding that they would take workers from designated locations to the state secretariat in the morning and return them to the locations after work.

    Ajimobi said it was part of his administration’s welfare package for the state workforce in the New Year.

    He also announced the payment of 13th month salary to civil servants.

    The governor said workers would close today by 12 noon to enable them prepare for the Christmas celebration.

    He approved 100 per cent increment in car loans for workers and reduced the tax deducted from their salaries by 48 per cent.

    Ajimobi urged workers to come up with ideas that can help his administration’s revenue drive.

  • Ekiti orders ‘operation show your documents’ to workers

    Ekiti orders ‘operation show your documents’ to workers

    THE Ekiti Government has directed 2,783 local government workers to produce documents to authenticate their appointments into the service.

    In a circular the Permanent Secretary, Local Government Service Commission, Mr David Jejelowo, said 1, 511 of the affected workers were found to have been illegally appointed while 593 and 357 were listed as redundant and  promoted beyond their statutory levels.

    The state government had already deployed council workers who had the National Certificates of Education (NCE) and Bachelors of Education to the State Universal Basic Education and Teaching Service Commission.

    It was gathered that some workers in the health departments of councils were re-deployed to the new Ekiti State Primary Health Development Agency.

    The circular also stated that 320 of the workers had been marked to have overstayed in service.

    It stated that such workers had been directed to produce their letters of first appointments, birth certificates, original copies of certificates and their personal files.

    But reacting to the development, the Secretary of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Workers, Mr Victor Adebayo, described the government’s action as surprising.

    He, however, said the union would not watch and allow the government to sack workers unjustly.

    “Declaring some people as illegal employees in the local government sector without carrying NULGE along is surprising because we don’t know the documents the government is relying upon to do all these restructuring.

    “We agreed that we should be carried along in the restructuring, but the government decided to do it all alone and this, to us, does not conform to due process,” he said.

    Adebayo appealed to the government to stay action on the matter to douse tension, promising that the union would reach out to its national headquarters on the next line of action.

    Also speaking, the state Commissioner for Information, Funminiyi Afuye, clarified that the government was not planning to sack council workers.

    He urged local government workers and members of the public to ignore the sack rumour being peddled in some quarters.

    Afuye said the state government would continue to respect the agreement reached with the council workers which led to the suspension of the strike declared by the workers last month.

    He explained that what the government did after the strike was to right-size by posting some workers to areas where they would function optimally.

  • Workers urged to explore dialogue

    The Osun State Government has urged workers to explore all opportunities for dialogue, rather than go on strike.

    Commissioner for Information Sunday Akere yesterday urged the labour leadership to dialogue with the government on any grey area.

    Akere said the government filed the suit before the National Industrial Court in Lagos because it had resolved to avoid any face-off with labour.

    Yesterday at a congress held at the open field of the Fakunle Comprehensive High School, Osogbo, labour leaders agreed to dialogue with the government, but warned that if the issues could not be resolved, the workers would go ahead with strike.

    Labour unions had, in a letter to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Monday, called on the state government to reduce the new proposed tax regime.

    They said any attempt to force workers to pay any form of tax arrears would be seen as a direct attack on them.

    The unions argued that the contributory pension was a ruse, adding that since the inception of the scheme, the generality of workers were yet to receive any alert on personal and government contributions.

    In the letter, which was signed by the chairmen and secretaries of the unions – Comrades Bayo Adejumo and Akinyemi Olatunji for the Joint Negotiation Council (JNC), Comrades F. Adetunji and Kayode Adepoju for the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and Comrades Saka Adesiyan and G. Bolarinwa for the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) -, the workers also rejected the government’s resolve to use a consultancy firm for the salary automation payroll of both serving and retired public officers.

    The unions maintained that “the Osun workers unanimously agreed not to participate in the salary automation system”.

     

  • Sacked workers protest non-payment of entitlements

    About 50 factory workers who were retrenched by the management of International Plastics Nigeria Ltd (INTERPLAST) at Ijora CauseWay, Lagos, have embarked on a peaceful protest over unpaid salaries and entitlements.

    The workers said they were sacked in November and that up till now, the company had not paid their entitlements.

    One of the workers, Mr Ahmed Shehu said he was only paid N677,000 after serving the company more than 17 years.

    Shehu said the company had yet to pay him other entitlements.

    “How can someone be paid N677,000 after all these years of service. I feel being used and dumped after giving all I have to the company,” he said.

    He confirmed that 50 workers of the company were laid off.

    The Chairman of the company, Mr Harish Shinani, while addressing the workers, promised that they would be paid their entitlements tomorow.

    “We are short of funds now, but I assure you that by this coming Tuesday, you would get everything due to you,”  he said.

    Shinani gave the protesters N1,000 each to use as transport allowance when coming next week.

     

  • Group condemns Plateau over workers’ strike

    Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) has condemned Governor Jonah Jang’s alleged refusal to pay Plateau workers the N18,000 minimum wage structure, which has forced workers to embark on indefinite strike.

    In a statement signed by the Publicity Secretary, Chinedu Bosah, the body said it is illegal for any government to refuse to implement the N18,000 minimum Wage since it has been passed into law.

    It stated that the government should rather be working towards a new minimum wage that takes care of the rising inflation trend.

    “Plateau State Government claimed it has no capacity to pay the N18,000 due to unavailability of funds. This has been the sing-song of many of the state governments who daily engage in waste of public resources and outright looting of public treasury.

    “Is it not contradictory for the same Jang to be constructing another government house/palace costing more than N4 billion whereas a paltry N18,000 minimum wage structure cannot be paid to workers.

    “Besides, the same government is paying idle top political office unjustified huge salaries and allowances while workers do not deserve what is obviously a poverty wage. “

    CDWR, therefore, demands that the state government open its books to the public and to be scrutinised by an elected committee of workers to ascertain how the state’s funds have been utilised and the true state of accounts.

    “We demand that Jonah Jang-led administration pay all backlog of salaries still owed to workers on the N18,000 minimum wage structure and to work out a basis for periodic increment in line with the rate of inflation. We reject and urge workers to stoutly oppose any plans by government to downsize,rightsize or retrench the workforce as a basis to pay the new wage.

    “We also call the trade union leaders to engage workers in more mass actions as a means of sustaining the ongoing strike. CDWR has always urged the trade union movement not to believe for a moment that state governments would comply with the Minimum Wage Act without struggle and not to rely on trade union diplomacy alone as a means to bringing about the full implementation of the Wage Act.

    It warned that it will require the continuous mass struggle of workers to force the state governments to implement the minimum wage act and to get more concessions from the government.

    “Fundamentally, every government that subscribes to neo-liberal capitalist policies, which only guarantee the privilege and profit of a few at the expense of the working masses will do everything to undermine workers’ welfare. It is fool hardy to expect that anti-poor political parties and politicians can guarantee workers interest. Hence, it is high time workers and the organised labour movement began the building of a new mass working class political party armed with socialist policies of creating jobs, payment of living wage and sustained infrastructural development under working class democratic control and management,” it urged

     

     

     

  • More workers join Trustfund pension

    More workers join Trustfund pension

    Trustfund Pensions Plc has recorded about 25 per cent increase in enrollees, its Managing Director, Mrs Helen Da- Souza, has said.

    Addressing delegates at the Eighth National Labour Relations Summit and Fellowship Award at the Michael Imoudu National Institute of Labour Studies (MINILS) Ilorin, Kwara State, Mrs Da Souza, said Trustfund would soon make gains as it hopes to make its mark through a transfer window it would soon open.

    “We are looking at the transfer window which we will soon open, where we would make our mark. We would end up by the day to be the next gainer. The board is fully supporting the management to achieve our target,” she said.

    She said the investiture of Nigeria Social Insurance Trustfund (NSITF) Chairman Mrs Ngozi Olejeme as a Fellow of the institute was well deserved, adding that the Board Chairman was the brain behind the Employees Compensation Act (ECA) that the government has just enacted.

    “We cannot talk of Employee Compensation Act without mentioning Mrs Ngozi Olejeme, because she is truly the brain behind it.You see what she is doing in NSITF and Trustfund, where she is the Chairman, that after working, after all the contributions, customers will retire to a comfortable way of living,’’ she said.

    Mrs. Olejeme assured Nigerians of the Federal Government’s social protection that would boost essential health care benefits, as well as reduce poverty and inequality in the country

    She said this is a foundation for sustainable and economic growth that has proved to be a powerful anti-crisis measure that protects and empowers people, and contributes to boosting economic demand and accelerating recovery.

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Vice-President, Comrade Isa Aremu, said: “She did very well to consummate what was close to almost a decade of struggle, to bring the ECA into being. When we have people like this in the position of public responsibility, it tells you that, regardless of political affiliation, if you want to work, you would work very well. And within a short time, that fund is already building up. Not only that, they have started giving compensation to some of the workers who have sustained injuries at work. It is really commendable.

    “ Trustfund is one of the leading PFAs in the country, with a better corporate governance. It has its challenges, but nonetheless, it has critical stakeholders- Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congree (TUC), Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) and Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF).

    “That tells you that women are doing very well in the labour market, and they need to be encouraged in that respect,” he stated.

    President-General, Trade Union Congress (TUC) of Nigeria, Peter Esele said as an investor in Trustfund, last year, he got 10 kobo per share, but this year, he received 15 kobo per share despite the worldwide economic depression. “That means the chairman has moved to a new level and I have also told her that this is what we expect for next year, as long as dividends are coming in, we know that the company is growing.”