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Tag: Strike

  • Medical doctors embark on indefinite strike

    Medical doctors in the employ of Anambra Government, under the aegis of Conference of Civil Service Doctors (NAGGDMP), have embarked on indefinite strike over government’s alleged failure to implement its agreement with the group.

    Addressing newsmen at the General Hospital, Onitsha, on Monday, the state Chairman of the conference, Dr Livinus Chukwuma, expressed sadness that doctors in the state were the least paid in the country.

    “This strike was necessitated by the failure of the state government to adhere to the agreement signed with NAGGDMP and Nigerian Medical Association on one hand and the state government on the other.

    “The doctors in the state are disheartened to note that they are the least paid in the country as the state government has failed to keep to its part of the bargain,” Chukwuma said.

    He recalled that doctors in the state went on strike for more than 13 months in 2011 over the non-implementation of the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure approved by the Federal Government as the standard for all doctors in government service.

    He said that the strike was then called-off after interventions from eminent persons and a fresh agreement reached with the state government.

    According to him, the agreement stipulated that government would periodically review the salaries until 100 per cent was achieved, starting from 50 per cent.

    “This is in spite of all the efforts made to make the government see reason, including a warning strike in 2019.

    “All the other states are either paying 100 per cent of the 2014 template or something very close to that,” Chukwuma said.

    He expressed dismay that doctors in the state were getting about 40 per cent of what their counterparts in other states were receiving.

    He regretted that the situation prevailed, in spite of the fact that the federal government in 2014 further reviewed the CONMESS upwards.

    Chukwuma said the salary disparity made doctors in Anambra a laughing stock in the comity of doctors.

    “The doctor in the state service is a frustrated one. Many have left the service for other states or institutions where they are accorded better wages and many are preparing to go.

    “The doctors in the state are very much aware of the dire consequences of this strike on the health needs of the people and wish it were avoidable. But we had been pushed to the limits.

    “We want to state clearly that there is still room for discussions and, therefore, implore our citizens of goodwill to prevail on the government to attend to the demands of doctors,” he said.

  • Outrage as doctors embark on strike despite coronavirus outbreak

    Outrage as doctors embark on strike despite coronavirus outbreak

    Amidst panic over the detection of coronavirus in the country, resident doctors of the Enugu State University Teaching Hospital on Saturday embarked on a five-day warning strike to press home their demand for an enhanced pay package.

    Many residents of Enugu have criticized the timing of the strike at this time of national emergency.

    The leadership of the resident doctors declined to respond to questions on the coronavirus epidemic.

    But president of the Association of Resident Doctors, ARD ESUT-TH, Dr. Chima Edoga, who spoke on the strike appealed to patients to understand their plight which he said they have managed for over four years.

    Edoga stated that it is the wish of the doctors to make the hospital a center of excellence, but noted that it is only when manpower is retained that the hospital could achieve the desired dream.

    He said that the Resident Doctors deliberated extensively on their work conditions and patient care before arriving at the difficult decision

    According to them, there is a shortage of doctors in ESUT-TH as a result of continual mass exodus of doctors, despite genuine efforts made by the State Government and the Management of ESUT-TH to replace them.

    The ARD ESUT- TH noted that there has been over-burdening of doctors who chose to remain and care for the people, with some doctors having to take daily call duties for months, at the expense of their own health, personal and family lives.

    They said that as a result there is a drop in the quality of care given to the patients.

    The doctors said their reasons for embarking on the warning strike include “Perennial poor salary and emoluments vis-à-vis non-implementation of the Corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) with consequential minimum wage adjustments for doctors working in ESUT-TH Parklane as is obtainable in all Federal Tertiary Health Institutions (FTHIs) and many State Tertiary Health Institutions (STHIs).

    “STHIs in neighbouring states like Anambra (COOUTH) and Imo (IMSUTH) have made giant strides in this regard. The recent increase in our salaries by the state government, though well appreciated, will not suffice.”

    Edoga said there was failure of all diplomatic channels and negotiations with the Enugu State Government to address the challenges and ensure continuous delivery of standard health care services to its citizenry.

    “Consequently, ARD ESUT-TH Parklane, in a unanimous decision, resolved to embark on a 5-day warning strike, starting on Saturday, February 29, 2020 at 8am to resume work on Thursday, March 5, 2020 by 8am, unless the State Government immediately implements the Corrected Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) with consequential minimum wage adjustments for doctors working in ESUT-TH Parklane as is obtainable in all Federal Tertiary Health Institutions (FTHIs) and many State Tertiary Health Institutions (STHIs) in Nigeria,” Edoga said.

    He disclosed that the Congress of ARD ESUT-TH Parklane will re-convene after the warning strike, give notice of and proceed on an indefinite industrial action if the Government does to meet their demand.

  • Breaking: Organised labour suspends strike in Niger

    Breaking: Organised labour suspends strike in Niger

    The Organised labour in Niger has suspended the strike it started on February 4 over non implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage.

    The strike was called off on Sunday following resolutions reached between the state government and labour.

    The suspension was contained in a statement by Mr Yakubu Garba, Chairman Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and his Trade Union Congress (TUC) counterpart Yunusa Tanimu in Minna.

    Recall that the labour unions had directed their members to commence an indefinite strike over non implementation of the new national minimum wage and other entitlements.

    “We are happy to announce to you that the series of rigorous meetings and negotiations between Niger state government and organised labour has finally yielded results.

    “As is traditional with the principle of collective bargaining, both parties made concessions in the interest of sustainability and progress of Niger state.”

    It said that the government and organised labour resolved that the discussion on pension issues resumed immediately.

    The statement said that it was agreed that the Ministries of Finance and Local Government, Community Development and Chieftaincy Affairs be directed to pay the outstanding leave grants between May and September.

    It further said that it was agreed that the issue of N30,000 National Minimum Wage for grade levels 01 and 06 in all salary structures had been concluded and government effected payment within January.

    That the Local Government Councils would start payment with effect from February.

    It was also agreed that the arrears for state workers would be for two months and for local government workers, three months to be paid in March.

  • Electricity workers issue ultimatum, threaten strike over failed agreement with FG

    Electricity workers have threatened to go on strike if the Federal Government fails to implement the December 11, 2019 agreement it reached with them.

    They gave the government 14 days to do the needful or face an industrial action.

    Seven weeks ago, the Federal Government reached an agreement with workers in the electricity sector, who are claiming that the government had reneged in its promise.

    They have threated to resume the suspended strike.

    The workers, under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE), threatened to ground power supply nationwide, if government fails to implement last year’s agreement with them.

    The union’s grievances include unpaid benefits to over 2,000 disengaged workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) since 2013; underpayment of over 50,000 ex-PHCN staff; payment of half salaries to workers by the power distribution companies (DisCos), among other perceived unfair labour practices.

    Addressing reporters yesterday in Lagos at the NUEE headquarters in Yaba, NUEE General Secretary Joe Ajaero accused the Minister of State for Power, Goddy Agba, of harassment and intimidation during the union’s negotiation on challenges affecting workers in the sector.

    The union leader said if issues were not addressed at the end of the ultimatum, the country should hold the minister responsible for the result of such action.

  • IPPIS: Strike looms in varsities as FG stops salaries of ASUU members

    Following the refusal of the staff of the federal tertiary institutions in Nigeria to be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, the Federal Government has ordered that the salaries of the concerned staff be stopped immediately

    The affected federal government staff, who will not be paid salaries from January, are members of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP and Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union, COEASU.

    According to a letter from the office of the Accountant General of the federation, signed by the Director of IPPIS, Olufehinti, O. J, dated January 21, 2020, and directed to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the minister was ordered not to release funds for the payment of January salaries of the tertiary institutions.

    The letter captioned, “Request for stoppage of release of funds for January Salaries to federal universities, Polytechnics and colleges of education”, was silent on whether the non-payment of salaries will affect the non-teaching staff, who have enrolled under the scheme.

    The letter reads, “I am directed to inform you that the preparation of January 2020 salary payroll and warrant of the federal tertiary institutions are on-gong and will be ready for submission on or before 29th of January, 2020.

    “This is to give effect to the directive of the federal government that all Ministries, Departments and Agencies drawing personnel cost from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, CRF, should be enrolled on the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS.

    “In order to actualise this directive, you are please requested not to release the funds for payment of salaries to the tertiary institutions as their salaries will henceforth be paid on the IPPIS platform with effect from January 2020.”

  • Resident doctors commence indefinite strike

    Resident doctors commence indefinite strike

    Resident doctors at the University of Medical Sciences Teaching Hospitals, Akure in Ondo State, embarked on an indefinite strike over unpaid salaries.

    The angry doctors gathered at the hospital complex, displaying placards with various inscriptions showing their grievances.

    Some of the inscriptions read: “We are asking for what we have worked for”, “a hungry doctor is a danger to the society”, ” our salary is our right, not a gift”, “pls pay our arrears”, “Arakunrin Akeredolu does not owe salary, why is UNIMEDTHC different? ”

    Speaking to newsmen, Dr Taiwo Olagbe, the Chairman, Media Committee, Association of Resident Doctors, UNIMEDTHC, said that the doctors were being owed three to six months’ salaries, depending on when they joined the service of the hospital.

    Olagbe explained that after the association had made several pleas to the management to no avail; it staged a protest to the Governor’s Office on December 23, 2019.

    He, however, regretted that all promises made by the duo of Dr. Jibayo Adeyeye, the Special Adviser to Gov. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu on Health Matters, and the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Ifedayo Abegunde, were not fulfilled.

    He alleged that the hospital management was carrying out a divide and rule strategy as the “management selected 33 out of over 150 doctors in Akure and Ondo complexes of the hospital and paid them one month salary, while the rest have nothing to give to their families for the Yuletide.”

    The spokesman said that before they could return to the wards, all arrears and backlog of salaries should be cleared with immediate effect, NAN reports.

    “Issue of our welfare should be addressed and concrete action taken; that our wages and remuneration be paid directly into our accounts, we don’t want intermediary; that our strike has commenced, and it is total and indefinite till all our agitations are resolved.

    “We are against any form of victimization during and after the strike, if any of such happens, we will not hesitate to call out our members again,” he said.

    The doctors, however, appealed to Akeredolu and all well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the management of the teaching hospital to pay their salaries.

    Responding, the state Commissioner for Health, Dr. Wahab Adegbenro, gave the assurance that the doctors would begin to receive credit alert, starting from Monday.

  • Nigeria lost N4bn to electricity workers strike

    The industrial action undertaken by members of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) on Wednesday may have cost the country over N4 billion with nationwide outages.

    NUEE called off the strike yesterday after meeting with the Federal Government.

    Reports reveal that at least N1.9bn is lost on a normal daily basis when power generation is at an average 3,850 megawatts (MW), record of daily Energy Report by the Advisory Power Team, Office of the Vice President for September 2019 indicates.

    However, in the case of Wednesday’s strike, the national grid was said to have fallen lower than 1,000MW and at some point to a complete shutdown as the union locked out electricity workers across major power generation stations, transmission stations and the distribution stations.

    Experts in the power sector said the losses were unquantifiable but could be over N4bn just for the electricity industry alone.

    As at Tuesday before the strike action commenced, the peak power generation was 4,047.2MW but dropped to abysmally lower figures on Wednesday due to non-operation of the plants.

    NUEE said it protested the non-payment of salaries, pensions and other entitlements across the privatised power firms. NUEE had earlier given a 21-day notice in a letter written to the Minister of Power, Engr. Sale Mamman to intervene in the issue.

    The duration however elapsed on Tuesday, forcing the NUEE members with support from the umbrella body of Trade Union Congress (TUC) to protest. Our reporter observed that electricity workers at the headquarters of the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) joined in the protest.

    The union blamed the Federal Ministry of Power for failing to act within the warning period.

    A copy of the letter seen on Wednesday by this paper was signed by the National President of NUEE, Comrade Joe Ajaero. The union said all the power firms must comply with their terms.

    Some of these include remittance of pensions due to all the engaged staff of the DisCos, Generation Companies (GenCos) and other power firms, most of them transferred from the defunct PHCN after the power sector privatization in 2013.

  • JUST IN: Electricity workers suspend strike

    Nigeria’s electricity workers have suspended a strike that engulfed a major part of the country in darkness for a little more than 24 hours.

    One of the major distributors in Lagos, Eko Electricity Distribution Company on Thursday morning confirmed the development and its readiness to commence business immediately.

    “Dear customer, National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) has suspended its strike. Our offices and payment channels are open for business. Thank you for your patience and understanding,” the Eko Electricity Distribution Company (Eko Disco) shared on its Twitter page on the morning of Thursday, December 12, 2019.

    Recall that after a 21-day ultimatum, electricity workers embarked strike on December 11, citing unpaid severance allowances, salaries and pensions owed 50,000 former employees of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) before the country privatized its power sector in 2013.

    Comrade Joe Ajaero, General Secretary of the NUEE says: “Following the agreement reached between NUEE and representatives of government this morning, on all the issues in contention, the Union wishes to suspend the industrial action it embarked upon to press home these demands. Consequently, members are urged to return to their duty posts while we monitor the implementation of these agreements. We would not hesitate to resume action if the agreements are not implemented.”

     

  • JUST IN: Reps summon Power, Labour Ministers over planned strike by electricity workers

    JUST IN: Reps summon Power, Labour Ministers over planned strike by electricity workers

    The House of Representatives has summoned the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Minister of Power as well as the Director-General of the National Pension Commission to appear before it on Thursday, December 12, 2019 to brief the leadership on the planned strike by electricity workers in the country.

    The House expressed displeasure that the 21-day ultimatum issued by the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) was allowed to elapse without any effort to nip the planned strike in the bud.

    The summon arose as a result of a motion of urgent public importance sponsored by Hon. Toby Okechukwu (PDP, Enugu) on the need for the House to intervene and ensure that the strike is not allowed to take place.

    Okechukwu said that if the strike is allowed to take place, it is capable of creating untold economic hardship in the country as several business outfits, especially the small scale businesses will suffer.

    He said it was not in the interest of the nation to allow the strike to go ahead, adding that as representatives of the people, the lawmakers must find solution by inviting the relevant stakeholders to dialogue with a view to finding lasting solution to the problem.

    He said it is not economically wise to allow the unions go ahead with the planned strike, pointing out that the Union should be prevailed upon to back down on their threat while the leadership find a lasting solution.

    He said if the strike is allowed to take place, the consequence will be more than what the workers are being owed, stressing the fact that the House has already resolved to come down hard in issues of casualisation.

    In his contribution, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu said one of the critical issues on the legislative agenda of the House was the issue of power reform, adding that there is presently no guarantee that the nation can effectively distribute 100 megawatts of electricity daily.

    He said the distribution companies presently does not have the capacity to distribute the about 4000 megawatts of electricity being generated, saying “imagine is that is now shut down completely. Everybody will now go after generating set to be able to operate”.

    He said it is unfortunate that a 21-day ultimatum was given by the unions and allowed to expire without those concerned inviting them for dialogue, adding that if the House leadership does not intervene, the issue may go out of hand.

    House Deputy Leader, Hon. Peter Akpatason said if the Parliament is not decisive enough, the Union members will embark on strike, pointing out that this is worrisome enough to attract House intervention.

    Speaker of the House, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila directs the Clerk of the House to write and invite the two Ministers of Power and Labour, the DG PENCOM, the Union leadership and other stakeholders to a meeting with the House leadership by 2.00PM on Thursday, while underground efforts should be made to get the Union not to commence the planned strike action.

    Details shortly…

  • Nationwide blackout looms as electricity workers commence strike today

    Nigerians may likely face another incident of nationwide blackout from today as electricity workers begin indefinite strike this morning.

    The industrial action is declared under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).

    The union said the decision to down tools remained the only option since there was no dialogue with the Federal Government to resolve the lingering industrial crisis in the sector.

    Assistant Secretary General of NUEE Anthony Sule said the 21-day ultimatum given to Minister of Power Saleh Mamman expired at midnight on Tuesday.

    Sule, in a statement issued in Jos, the Plateau State capital, said the union had no option but to commence an indefinite strike.

    The statement read in part: “The ministry of power has failed to resolve some issues affecting members of the union since 2013 when the power sector was privatised especially issues that with the over 2,000 disengaged former PHCN workers and their pay off.”

    Some of the unresolved issues are illegal transfer of union properties to power investors and the alleged refusal by some distribution companies (DisCos) to remit deducted contributory pension of their members of staff to pension managers.

    He added that these issues were contained in a memo to the minister dated 7th November, 2019.

    Last night, General Secretary of NUEE Joe Ajaero said it was regrettable that the Ministry of Power failed to respond positively to the strike notice .

    Ajaero said the only response from the ministry was the letter sent to the union on the November 18. He said tin the letter, the minister assured the union that something would be done immediately he settled down.

    He said after waiting, the union again wrote the minister on the December 6 but up till yesterday, nothing had been done.

    “The strike letter was sent to the Ministry of Power and there was one letter they wrote, saying the minister is not in the country and that he is still studying the situation. They said the minister would look into everything, that is all,” he added.

    He said the union made sure that it sent its letter to all the relevant authorities in the power sector, including security agencies.

    He said the strike notice was published in one of the national dailies to ensure that no one would claim not to have seen it.

    “I can assure you, the strike will commence any time from now,” he vowed

    Ajaero said the union had given more than enough opportunity for dialogue on the issues but that nothing was forthcoming from the government.

    A power sector consultant who pleaded anonymity, said yesterday that the GenCos and DisCos were in dire need of N1.2 billion bailout to improve services.

    He also said one of the stakeholders, the Eko Distribution Company, had reached out to the union showing areas it had complied with its workers’ demands.

    Ajero said notwithstanding the efforts of the Eko DisCo, its services would still be affected since generation companies supply electricity to DisCos.