President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba has said that the Congress has not issued any strike notice over the implementation of the new national minimum wage by the government.
Wabba disclosed in Abuja that the implementation of the minimum wage and the consequential adjustment was going on smoothly, pointing out that when the time comes for a strike ultimatum, Nigerians will be informed accordingly.
The NLC President also commended President Muhamadu Buhari for signing the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement, saying organised Labour were initially against Nigeria signing the agreement because there was no consultation.
He disclosed that only Nigeria and South Africa carried out extensive consultation on the agreement, adding that the observations of organised labour have been reflected in the agreement, part of which is that goods to benefit from the trade agreement must be produced in Africa.
He said “our own case is going on well. We met with our unions yesterday. The difference right now is about the consequential increase and we hope that through a normal process of dialogue, we will be able to sought that out.
On the strike alert already issued, he said ” no, we don’t work with that, please. NLC, as an organised body, I am not sure we have given any notice to that effect. If we reach a point of issuing threats, we will do that without hesitation.
“But I have seen much information on social media. We are a credible organisation and we should be able to speak for ourselves.
” If we get to that point, we will be able to inform you. But for now, the process is going on and we have been able to expand the scope of dialogue to include NLC/TUC and only limited to the unions in the public sector”.
Speaking on the benefit of the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement recently signed by President Muhammadu Buhari, Wabba said organised labour was initially against Nigeria signing the agreement because there was no dialogue among the social partners in how it will benefit the country especially workers.
He said “We were against it because there was no consultation and nobody even knew the content. I can say with nostalgia that it is only Nigeria and South Africa that did the type of consultation we did. Through our engagement process, there was dialogue, there was consultation with key stakeholders in the economy and we were able to identify way to improve and key into the Africa Continental free Trade Agreement and to have a comparative advantage.
“Part of what we agreed on is that those goods must be made in Africa. They must be goods we produce in Africa that will be used for the trade among ourselves. In the course of the dialogue, we found out that trade among African countries is less than 16 per cent. Therefore, it will be an advantage for African countries to trade among themselves than trading with other countries.
“How do we also protect our local market? With the agreement, there will be a common tariff, some of the tariff will drop, the income accruing to government in terms of revenue will also drop. How we key into it is to produce. Then, how do we create an enabling environment for our industries to produce and be able to compete with other countries because some of them will be targeting our population.
Tag: NLC
-
Minimum wage: NLC denies issuing fresh strike notice to FG
-
Minimum Wage: Shelve proposed nationwide strike in public interest, Lawan begs NLC
The President of the Senate, Dr Ahmad Lawan on Wednesday appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC)to shelve its proposed industrial action over alleged delay in implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage.
Lawan made the appeal when the executives of the NLC and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, (PASAN) led by Mr Ayuba Waba and Sunday Sabiyi paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja.
Lawan called for further understanding and patriotism, adding that some states had started paying the agreed minimum wage.
“We should not encourage personal issue to overshadow our collective responsibility to nation building.
“We will journey with you to ensure absolute implementation of the minimum wage by the Federal government.” Lawan pleaded.
He also assured PASAN to collaborate with the management and leadership of the National Assembly, urging it to present issue-based arguments, instead on engaging strike action to press home its demands.
He also said the ninth assembly would not be detracted, but remained focused in pursing growth in every sector of the country.
The NLC President later presented a congratulatory card to Lawan on his emergence as the Chairman of the National Assembly.
He also pledged the commitment and collaboration of the labour unions to the legislators.
Earlier, the Chairman, PASAN, Sunday Sabiyi congratulated Lawan on what he described an impressive emergence as the President of the Senate.
He urged him to put into use , his wealth of experience as a ranking senator to the service and protection of the interests of Nigerians.
Sabiyi used the occasion to present the demands of the parliamentary staff in National Assembly.
He listed the demands to include implementation of 2018 arrears of 28 per cent and balance of 50 per cent consolidated Legislative salary, implementation of condition of service, recently approved by the eight National Assembly, training of staff, health insurance and life insurance premium. -
NURTW boss emerges new NLC Chairman
Alhaji Issa Ore, the chairman, Kwara chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), on Thursday emerged as the new chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Kwara.
Ore defeated Dr Davies Ehindero of the Agriculture and Allied Employees’ Union of Nigeria (AAEUN), to form a new executive council alongside others, who were returned unopposed.
Alhaji Najeem Yasin, the Returning Officer for the state while declaring the result at the close of the 12th Quadrennial State Delegates Conference in Ilorin, said that Ore polled 253 votes to defeat Ehindero, who garnered 65 votes.
Yasin, who is also the National Deputy President of the NLC, said that there were 307 accredited delegates from 19 industrial unions that participated in the exercise.
The NLC leader commended the delegates for their peaceful conduct throughout the period of the exercise.
He expressed confidence in the ability of the new executive to deliver and make the state council of the labour union a robust and progressive one.
Yasin, who also is the National President of the NURTW, expressed delight that for the second time in the history of the country, an official of the transport union emerged a state chairman of the NLC.
He noted that the victory was for him and all members of the transport union in the country.
NAN reports that other members of the new executives are Mr Muritala Saheed and Yusuf Ayinla as Vice Chairman I and II respectively; Rafiu Adeniran as Treasurer.
Others are Salihu Idris and Owoeye Olusina as Auditor I and II respectively, while Yomi Ibiwoye and Idowu Oladipo were elected Ex-officio I and II.
In his acceptance speech, the new NLC chairman in Kwara promised to carry every member along in the scheme of things as every hand would be on deck to tackle all the outstanding workers’ issues in the state.
“As the conference has come and gone, there is no winner and there is no loser as this is an indivisible congress where all of us are of the same family.
“I promise that I will be making necessary consultation before taking decision on workers’ demands and problems, and the congress under my leadership will not take any irrational decision on issues,” he said.
Ore noted that the N30, 000 new minimum wage was a must pay to all categories of workers in the state, local government and pensioners alike without disparity or amputation of any sort.
-
Minimum wage: Labour unions praise Buhari, task him on quick implementation
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) asked employers of labour, especially states and federal government to immediately commence the implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage following the signing into law of the minimum wage bill by the President.
The unions in separate statements commended the President for signing the bill into law.
The NLC described the bill signing as only the first step and called for the immediate implementation of the law, given the fact that this process has dragged on for nearly two years.
It advised employers, particularly federal and state governments, to commence immediate negotiations with the appropriate unions on the impact of the new law on the wage structure with a view to timely and judicious implementation.
On its part, the TUC said the new wage would in no small measure give workers a sense of belonging.
The TUC said while organised labour appreciates the approval of the new wage, it is also instructive to note that its gains have been eroded by inflation, adding that prices of commodities have gone up even when employers have not commenced payment.
It said: “the N30,000 monthly National Minimum Wage that we are even asking for a family of six actually amounts to less than N50 per meal per person. It is exclusive of utility bills, school fees, etc.
“Given our extended family system as Africans we are also expected to once in a while extend hands of fellowship to parents, in-laws, relations, friends who have lost their jobs, brothers and people of the same faith.
“We recall that some lawmakers promised to give the wage bill supersonic attention whenever it was brought before them and they have kept to their word. To us it means we still have men and women with milk of kindness left in them.”
The TUC asked the President, the National Assembly and well meaning Nigerians to prevail on governors to pay workers their salaries and pension to pensioners as and when due to avoid crisis in the industrial sector.
-
NLC expresses concern over Nigeria’s debt profile, warns against further borrowing
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has urged the Federal Government to be cautious on the issue of borrowing both within and outside the country.
Dr Peter Ozo-Eson, NLC General Secretary, said this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja.
“We now owe a debt stock in excess of N24 trillion which is quite excessive. We can take comfort that we are not excessively breaking out of the guidelines.
“However, we take the view that it is not just the technical matter of the debt to GDP ratio alone that we should be focusing on, more importantly, we should be focusing on debt service burden.
“The amount we spent to service the amount annually can then become a major drag on the annual budget and that is the situation we are worried about.
“Borrowing in itself is not bad if you deploy a borrowed fund to generate the capacity to service such loans. So what is crucial is the utilisation of the cumulative borrowing, that we have done,” he said.
Ozo-Eson explained that the Federal Government has continued to borrow to finance infrastructure.
“We want a situation in which borrowed funds are quickly used to execute projects that have the capacity to generate income.
“If you use the fund judiciously and quickly create railway infrastructure between two major towns and you run those rails efficiently and commercially, you should be able to service that loan from the proceeds that are then generated from the rail service.
“I am not sure we are matching borrowing to match our specific projects so that we can expect those projects to run in a way to service those loans. I think these are things we need to start focusing on.
“Take for instance, the rail service between Kaduna and Abuja, it is booming due to the complete collapse of security on the highways.
“Now we also hear of syndicates that are now taking advantage and there are manipulation of tickets and things like that; those are haemorrhages.
“We need to manage this such that it can generate sufficient fund that can be used to service what loan went into its own creation,” he said.
Ozo-Eson said that Nigeria must be creative to ensure that the loans are sustainable.
“I think that we need in a creative way to do this kinds of things for those loans to be sustainable.
“We should be careful not to be back to those days, so that debt overhang will not become a major drag on our capacity to finance development,” he said.
In April 2006, Nigeria became the first African country to fully pay off its debt owed to the Paris Club.
The Paris Club is a group of officials from major creditor countries whose role is to find co-ordinated and sustainable solutions to the payment difficulties experienced by debtor countries.
-
Labour to Buhari: Sign minimum wage bill immediately
The Nigeria Labour Congress on Wednesday urged President Muhammadu Buhari to sign the new minimum wage bill.
The NLC said since the National Assembly approved the new minimum wage of N30,000 and passed it to the President for his assent nothing had been heard about it.
The union’s Head of Information and Public Affairs, Benson Upah, said workers would be grateful if Buhari signed the bill this month.
He said, “The President constituted a committee that worked on the figure that was submitted to him and he sent it to the National Assembly as an executive bill. Similarly, the National Assembly legislated on it and sent back to the President for his assent.
“We have no reason to doubt that the President will not sign it into law; his body language does not suggest that he will not sign it.
“We are hoping and waiting for him to do so. If you asked me when he should sign it, I would tell you that it should be immediately. We want him to sign it right away so that by May workers can earn the new salary. They have been waiting anxiously.”
The Trade Union Side arm of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council also called on Buhari to sign the bill.
Chairman of the union, Abdrafiu Adeniji and the Secretary, Alade Lawal, the TUS commended the National Assembly for passing the bill.
The statement read in part:“The tripartite committee on the minimum wage and the National Assembly have done a good job by approving N30,000 as the national minimum wage and accordingly deserve commendation.
“It is now left for the President to sign the bill into law and bring the minimum wage saga to a positive conclusion.
“The current N18,000 monthly minimum wage has become inadequate and workers are finding it extremely difficult to cope. This underscores the need for the President to sign into law the N30,000.000 National Minimum Wage Bill so the bodies that will work out the consequential adjustments arising from the new wage can be put in place.”
-
New Minimum wage: NLC commends Senate, demands implementation before 2019 Workers Day
The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) wants the government to commence the implementation of the new national minimum wage before the 2019 workers day celebration and give workers good course to celebrate this year.
NLC also commended the Senate for passing the bill into law, following the footstep of the House of Representatives which had earlier passed the N30, 000 as new national minimum wage.
The Nigeria Governors Forum had earlier said that they will not be able to pay N30,000 as minimum wage, offering to pay N24,000 instead while President Muhammadu Buhari forwarded N27,000 to the National Assembly as minimum wage.
Both chambers of the National Assembly set up special adhoc committees headed by the Deputy Senate President for the Senate Committee and Deputy Speaker for the House of Representatives committee to conduct public hearing and submit reports for consideration.
However, the House of Representatives immediately passed the bill into law before embarking on break for the 2019 general election, while the Senate passed the bill at its sitting on Tuesday.
Acting President of the NLC, Comrade Najeem Yasin said even though the bill has been passed by both chambers, the battle for the minimum wage was not yet over, saying workers will not rest until the bill is signed and implemented.
He said; “We commend the senate for the quick passage. But it is not yet over because we want them to make sure that the process gets to the logical conclusion and for the quick implementation of that N30, 000. Nigerian workers are happy and commends them.
“We stand by the N75, 000 punishment for employers who fail to implement the law which has been passed. We have been fighting for this N30, 000 for a long time and the governors have been opposed to it. But now, it has been passed. Nigerian workers are now looking forward to the signing of the bill into law.
“We want them to start implementing it before the May Day celebration so that Nigerian workers can have good reasons to celebrate.”
-
Amosun reinstates Ogun NLC chairman, 3 other civil servants
Gov. Ibikunle Amosun on Tuesday reinstated the Chairman of Ogun branch of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Akeem Ambali, into the state’s civil service after his sack in October, 2016.
Ambali and 15 other labour leaders, including the former Chairman of the State Chapter of the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Mr Dare Ilekoya, were dismissed from the civil service by the state government.
They were accused of professional misconduct during the 2016 World Teachers’ Day celebration in the state.
While 15 of the labour leaders were later pardoned, Ambali’s case was not revisited.
Three other civil servants earlier disengaged were also recalled on Tuesday.
The reinstatement followed a protracted meeting between the state government led by Amosun and the national leadership of the NLC led by its president, Ayuba Wabba.
The meeting, which was inconclusive on Monday, was reconvened on Tuesday.
The NLC leadership had mobilised workers from the neighboring states for a solidarity protest against the Ogun government which they accused of anti-labour policies.
Wabba, who had addressed newsmen on Monday before the commencement of the meeting, said that labour planned to protest against unremitted deductions from workers’ salaries and unilateral imposition of a new payment schedule for gratuity.
He said labour also planned to protest the sack of Ambali as well as the unpaid salaries of workers at the Tai Solarin College of Education (TASCE), Ijebu-Ode.
Wabba on Tuesday in Abeokuta, however, commended Amosun , saying that “all the issues have been resolved.’’
“All the four issues have been resolved and the governor has agreed to recall the state chairman of NLC into the civil service.
“I want to use this medium to thank the governor because he has demonstrated that where there is will, issues can always be resolved at the negotiation table.
“You will realise we started the meeting on Monday and we reconvened today and all through the discussions, the governor was physically available with his officials and all the issues have been resolved,” he said.
Ambali, who also addressed newsmen, expressed appreciation to the governor over his recall.
” I thank the Almighty God and I appreciate the magnanimity of Governor Amosun because I have been out and back to my service.
“You know in any human relationships, there is bound to be friction and the mature way the governor handled it speaks volumes and we are so happy,
“We are delighted with the outcome of this meeting because it has been a productive meeting and has reinforced hope that labour and government industrial relations in the state will continue to improve.
“Now, there’s no more war, there’s no more fight,” he said.
Amosun, who had earlier addressed newsmen, ascribed the face-off between labour and the government to “communication gap.”
“I have to thank them as always because this is not the first time the NLC leadership will be here.
“The last time they came, all outstanding issues were resolved.
“I thank God they have come and we’ve resolved all matters and I am sure that the workers and all of us in Ogun will be the better for it,” he said.
-
We must rescue Ogun workers from Amosun – NLC
The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it must rescue Ogun workers from some alleged anti-labour practices of the state governor, Mr Ibikunle Amosun.
Mr Ayuba Wabba, the NLC President made the position of the congress known in a statement on Friday night in Abuja.
There has been a confrontation between the state governor and the leadership of NLC over non-payment of workers’ salaries and arrears and the recent sack of the NLC state chairman by the governor.
The NLC leadership also accused Amosun of non-remittance of statutory deductions from workers’ salaries and his refusal to pay gratuities of retired state and local government workers since 2013.
Wabba said NLC was prepared for a showdown with the governor if attempts were made to “disgrace the NLC” during its rescheduled March 5, protest in the state, as reportedly threatened by him.
He said the decision to ‘confront and tackle’ Amosun had already been taken by the NLC at its 12th National Delegates Conference and that there was no going back on it.
“The leadership of the NLC has taken cognisance of a statement credited to the Gov. of Ogun State, Ibikunle Amosun, where he threatened to disgrace the leadership of the NLC if the Congress insists on embarking on a protest scheduled for Tuesday March 5, 2019 in Ogun State.
“This was reported by Premium Times on 1st March 2019 and other platforms. Our Position is that The Nigeria Labour Congress has taken note of the threat by Governor Ibikunle Amosun.
“But we want to assure him that his threats will not deter us from defending the interest of workers in Ogun State whose rights he has been trampling upon.
” This is especially on the following issues: the non-remittance of statutory deductions from workers’ salaries for pensions, cooperative, ileya, Christmas etc. over a period of one hundred and five (105) months,” he said.
He said that Amosun had refused to pay salary arrears of workers at the Tai Solarin College of Education, according to him, which has accumulated for the past ten years and now grosses to a financial liability of about N9 billion.
“To make matters worse, Governor Amosun sacked the Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress from his employment for standing firm in the defence of the rights of workers in Ogun State.
“The issues we have highlighted are too grievous to be swept under the carpet, therefore, the decision of the 12th National Delegates Conference of the NLC to confront and engage Governor Amosun will be carried out to the letter on Tuesday, March 5, 2019.
“We are not unmindful of the fact that even Amosun’s political party has complained of his penchant to violently disgrace other spheres of leadership outside his control and sometimes beyond him.
“We are not unmindful of the fact that Governor Amosun’s hostility to Nigerian workers is primarily a transfer of aggression
” Our confidence stems from the protection and guarantees provided by Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution, which gives workers and indeed all Nigerians the freedom to peaceful assembly and protest,”he said.
While insiting on the scheduled protest, Wabba added that “”All that the law requires us to do is to inform the police and relevant security agencies.
“This we have done. We are ready to peacefully protest the grievous mistreatment by our workers in the hands of Governor Ibikunle Amosun on 5th March 2019.
“We want to warn Governor Amosun that we will hold him personally responsible for any harm that comes to any worker during our protest on March 5, 2019.
“We want to remind Governor Amosun that he has already trampled workers on the ground and those who are down need fear no fall.
“We wish to alert our security agencies to Governor Amosun’s resort to violent threats.
“We assure him that his immunity cover will soon be removed and he must be ready to answer for his crimes against workers.
“The NLC can assure Ibikunle Amosun that we will continue to engage him even after he would have been sworn in as a Senator in Abuja.
“We wish to state that we unequivocally stand with the press statement recently released by our state council on this issue.
“We urge all our state councils especially those from the contiguous states to Ogun State – Lagos, Oyo, Osun states who are already fully mobilised for the protest not to be sacred one bit by the threats by Governor Ibikunle Amosun. We had dared and won worse tyrants,” Wabba said.
-
Your feeding programme fraudulent, waste of funds – NLC tells FG
The Niger state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has described the Federal government school feeding programme as a corrupt and wasteful venture calling for its stop.
The Niger state Chairman of NLC, Comrade Yahaya Ndako Idris made the call while speaking at “a solemn Assembly” organised by the Niger state wing of the Nigeria Union of Teachers on Monday.
He said that the money spent on the school feeding programme can be used for other educational programmes that would be beneficial to the school children.
He said that N9 million claimed to have been spent monthly by the federal government could have been used for renovation of many schools that are already in dilapidated states.
” The federal government should immediately stop the school feeding programme, it is total corruption, they should use the money for other programmes, they commit the money to the renovation of schools.
” We agree today that the federal government should stop school feeding everybody feeds his child before taking them to school.”
Commending the NUT for organising the “solemn assembly”, Idris said it is important for everything to be put in the hands of God as God is the only one who can settle the challenges bedevilling the nation.
The State Chairman of the NUT, Comrade Ibrahim Umar appreciated teachers in the state for being dedicated to their job even in the face of daunting challenges calling on the government to improve the condition of service of teachers.
During the solemn assembly, prayers were offered for the smooth conduct of the general elections and for God to ” touch the hearts of the leadership” to do the bidding of workers especially teachers.
The major prayer point at the solemn Assembly was that God should allow the national assembly to pass the N30,000 minimum wage bill before it.