TheNewsGuru

Tag: workers

  • Ogun Assembly workers shut gate to demand improved welfare

    Ogun Assembly workers shut gate to demand improved welfare

    Members of the Ogun chapter of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) shut the gates of the House of Assembly on Thursday to demand the implementation of Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure (CONLESS).

    Speaking with newsmen at Abeokuta, Mr Ayotunde Ojediran, the chapter chairman noted that it was important for the staff to register their displeasure with the state government.

    Ojediran said the shutting of the gates was to signal the beginning of a three-day warning strike over the failure of the state government to consider the association’s demands.

    He noted that the implementation of CONLESS would put staff of the assembly on the same pedestal as staff of the Judiciary who had been enjoying Consolidated Judicial Salary Structure (CONJESS).

    The implementation, he added, would also benefit staff of the House of Assembly Service Commission.

    Ojediran said government was also yet to comply with the provision of the State Assembly Service Commission Law, 2018 regarding the emoluments of principal officers.

    He noted that the non-compliance had resulted into the non-payment of due salaries and allowances to the three most senior officers in the assembly since their respective dates of appointment.

    “The union had earlier written to the state government stating all the demands and we issued a 21-day ultimatum to meet the demands but nothing was done till the ultimatum lapsed.

    “We are presently in negotiation with the state government but as we speak we are yet to reach any meaningful agreement.

    “If all these issues are not addressed, it will not be too good for the system. This is an institution, but unfortunately people are not enjoying what is due to them.

    “We are optimistic that before the expiration of the three-day warning strike, government will do the needful. I know we have a listening governor who is father to all.

    “If there is no positive response from the state government, we will call for an indefinite strike immediately,’’ he said.

    Efforts to get the reaction of the management of the assembly proved abortive.

    In a letter dated May 9, the national body of PASAN gave Gov. Dapo Abiodun until the end of May to address issues raised by its members in the Ogun State House of Assembly.

    The letter was signed by its National Secretary-General, Mr Awobifa Hammed.

    It demanded full compliance with the provisions of the Ogun State House of Assembly Service Commission Law, 2018 and Statutory Office (State Emolument) Amendment 2018.

    It noted that the governor ignored three earlier correspondences from its Ogun chapter on the issues “despite the legislative workers’ plea’’.

    It urged the governor to address its demands before May 31 or risk an industrial crisis in the state.

  • Obaseki approves 13th-month salary for Edo workers

    Obaseki approves 13th-month salary for Edo workers

    Gov. Godwin Obaseki of Edo, on Monday, approved the payment of the 13th-month salary to Edo civil and public servants.

    Obaseki gave the approval during an interactive session with civil and public servants between Grade Levels 8 and 17 at the Sir Victor Uwaifo Creative Hub, Benin City.

    He commended the workers for their support to his administration over the past six years

    He called for greater government-workers synergy to ensure the sustainability of the ongoing reforms designed to guarantee improved wellbeing for the people and economic prosperity for the state.

    Obaseki assured the people of his administration’s commitment to develop the Benin Port and other projects meant to place the state on the path of sustainable economic growth and development.

    He said: “You have asked for a 13th-month salary to be paid to you in December.

    “We will do it but between now and December, how will you pay the state government back?

    “I am here today to say thank you for your support.

    “When I look back, I know I have people.

    “You have supported me for the past six-and-a-half years.

    “I thank you for coming out to vote during the last election to sustain our developmental strides in Edo.

    “Our focus should be on how to sustain our developmental strides.

    The governor further said that everything he had done since he assumed office “is to put you where you really should belong because you are the heart and the engine of Edo”.

    “Our focus is on how to ensure the sustainability of the reforms we have embarked on and you need to play an active part in this journey.

    “We want Edo to be a model for the nation and give the nation hope.

    “I appreciate the efforts you have put in to ensure the state develops.

    “You must participate in the reforms and must be trained and retrained.

    “We should ensure that the next leader of the state will not take us back,” Obaseki said.

    Giving an update on the development of the Benin River Port, he said: “The State and Federal Governments, Nigeria Port Authority and Ministry of Transportation are considering all the applications.

    “And very soon, we will zero in on one partner, and start the development of the port.

    “It is my hope that within the next nine to twelve months, work will have started in terms of building the port on the Benin River and that will be a game changer.

    “We already have partners who are setting up an LNG plant near the River Port in anticipation of the port.”

    The Permanent Secretary, Edo State Ministry of Environment and Sustainability, Edionwe Joel, thanked the governor for his developmental strides and commitment to the welfare of workers in Edo.

    He assured the governor of the continued support of the workers.

  • Osun denies demotion of workers, half-pay

    Osun denies demotion of workers, half-pay

    The Osun State Government says it has no plan to demote any of its workers or payment of half salary.

    This is contained in a statement by Malam Olawale Rasheed, the spokesperson for Gov. Ademola Adeleke, on Saturday in Osogbo.

    The statement said it was an outright falsehood and wicked fabrication, the fake news about demotion of workers and alleged plan of payment of half salaries to the state workers.

    It said the administration of Gov. Adeleke had no plan to demote any of the state workers and would not introduce payment of half salary.

    “We affirm that the Osun State Government under Gov. Ademola Adeleke, has not and will not demote any worker. There is also no plan to introduce half salary.

    “We declare that the content of the said story and all the references to a supposed worker are mere fabrications to undermine the very strong bond between Adeleke and Osun workers, both in the formal and the informal sector.

    “The bond of partnership between this administration and the workers was further cemented at the May 1 Workers Day celebration, where labour leaders praised the extraordinary commitment of Gov. Adeleke to workers’ welfare,” it stated.

    The statement said the May Day event saw confirmation by all stakeholders that Gov. Adeleke was the first governor in the state to have workers’ welfare as the first item on his agenda.

    “The May Day event also saw confirmation by all stakeholders that Gov. Adeleke was the first governor in Osun state to have workers’ welfare as the first item on his governance agenda.

    “Members of the public and the labour movement also acknowledged that the present administration has been clearing the mess and the evil fallouts of years of maladministration by the APC in Osun state.

    “Part of that acclaimed step is the template adopted to clear years of half salaries and pensions owed Osun workers.

    “It is, therefore, a failed hatchet job by the opposition party to allege that a solution provider, a workers’ governor and a performing leader of peoples’ government is planning any anti-labour agenda

    “Governor Adeleke has since been working round the clock to restore public confidence in government, to bridge the infrastructural gap, to clear backlogs of salaries owed to workers, to rebuild the public service, to sanitise public finance, and to digitalise Osun economy.

    “We, therefore, urge members of the public to ignore the fake news about demotion of workers and re-introduction of half salaries.

    “Gov. Adeleke is an apostle of good governance and grassroots development who upholds workers’ rights and aspirations of Osun people,” the statement said.

  • Automatic promotion to workers not captured in 2023 budget – Lawmaker

    Automatic promotion to workers not captured in 2023 budget – Lawmaker

    A lawmaker in Abia, Chief Obinna Ichita, has said that the 2023 Appropriation Act passed by the state House of Assembly did not capture the State Government’s automatic promotion to Local Government workers.

    Ichita, representing Aba South State Constituency, made the disclosure during an interactive session with newsmen in Umuahia on Friday.

    He was reacting to the automatic promotion announced by Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu during a meeting with civil servants in the state on Thursday.

    He said: “The automatic promotion to Local Government workers coming barely by one week to the election is a mere subterfuge.

    “There are workers who are owed up to 36 months salary arrears and never enjoyed any promotion for many years under Ikpeazu’s administration.

    “The governor has not paid workers allowance and other entitlements since he assumed office in 2015.

    “Therefore, the announcement is deceptive and cannot fly.

    “Also, there is no provision in the 2023 budget to cover the salaries for the promotion.

    “If he was genuine, he would have increased the provision for recurrent expenditure for us to assume that he planned to promote workers.”

    Ichita further described the governor’s gesture as “an insult on the collective sensibility of our people.

    “It shows that he thinks that the workers are fools to be carried away by his unrealistic promise,” he said.

    He, therefore, advised the workers to ignore the pronouncement and take it as one of the governor’s phoney promises.

    “He promised to build Enyimba Economic City, Education City at Owerrinta, reconstruction of Ahiaohuru and Ariaria markets in Aba before the end of 2021.

    “He also promised an underground tunnel at Ifeobara Pond and revitalisation of the education and health sectors but all these and many others have remained unfulfilled,” he said.

    The lawmaker also took a swipe at the governor for not paying attention to critical roads in some parts of Aba, including the Port Harcourt Road, which he started but abandoned midway.

    He also listed the Omuma Road, Obuohia Road and Ohanku Road, among the deplorable roads in the commercial city begging for attention.

    He similarly expressed concern over the dilapidation of the Abia State University Teaching Hospital, Aba, saying that the only functional unit at facility was the mortuary.

    Ichita, who is the APGA Deputy Governorship Candidate, also spoke about the prospects of the party in the March 18 polls.

    He said that the party, which bears the Igbo identity, was fully acceptable to the people of the state.

    “APGA will win the governorship poll overwhelmingly because our people believe in us,” he said.

    He also described the party’s Governorship Candidate, Prof. Greg Ibe, as the candidate to beat.

    According to him, Ibe is the highest single private employer of labour with a huge investment in education in the state.

    “Others take their investments to other cities because they say that there is no significant return on investment in Abia,” Ichita said.

    He also said that beyond building a university, the Gregory University, Uturu, Ibe was also making substantial contribution to the health sector through his free medical and surgery services to the people.

    He expressed joy over Wednesday’s  Supreme Court judgment that affirmed Ibe’s candidacy for the election.

    He said that with the judgment, the judiciary acquitted itself as the last hope of the common man and respecter of no person.

    Ibe’s emergence from the party’s primary was challenged by three other governorship aspirants.

    They included Chief Etigwe Uwa (SAN), Mr Chikwe Udensi and Gen. Ijioma Ijioma (rtd).

  • Thousands of UK workers stage biggest single-day strike in a decade

    Thousands of UK workers stage biggest single-day strike in a decade

    Britain’s biggest strike in a decade got under way on Wednesday, with up to half a million workers walking out in increasingly bitter disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.

    Members of seven trade unions are taking industrial action, affecting schools, universities, trains and buses.

    Thousands of schools closed for the day because of action by the National Education Union (NEU), although many parents only found out on Wednesday morning that their children would have to stay at home.

    Civil servants, train and bus drivers and university staff also stopped work on the biggest single day of strikes in a decade.

    Picket lines were mounted outside railway stations, schools, government departments and universities across the country, with unions saying they were receiving strong support from the public.

    More than 100,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union were on strike, including Border Agency staff at ports and airports.

    The Trades Union Congress (TUC) is frustrated by the government’s controversial plans for a new law on minimum levels of service during strikes.

    A petition against the law, signed by more than 200,000 members of the public, will be handed in to the prime minister’s office.

    TUC general secretary Paul Nowak, said he hoped Wednesday’s protests and strikes would send a strong message to the government about the anger felt by growing numbers of workers.

    Groups representing parents have released a joint statement in support of striking teachers.

    The statement signed by the parental organisations Save Our Schools, Rescue Our Schools, Let Our Kids Be Kids, Special Needs Jungle and Square Peg makes clear that parents support teachers in their demand for “fair pay”.

    The groups said they shared the concerns of educators that children’s education were being harmed because of a lack of qualified teachers and turnover of staff.

    They called on the Government to engage with the union to negotiate a settlement and avoid the industrial action.

  • Plateau Govt. urges workers to shelve warning strike

    Plateau Govt. urges workers to shelve warning strike

    The Plateau state Government has urged the organised labour in the state to shelve its proposed warning strike scheduled to commence on Monday.

    The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) on Thursday issued a notice of five-day sit-at-home strike to workers in the state.

    The JNPSNC said that some issues agitating the minds of workers in the state include irregularities in the computation of salaries and payment of same to workers.

    Plateau Head of Civil Service, Mr Sunday Hyat, in a statement on Monday, said that the state government was making efforts to settle the outstanding salary arrears.

    “The state government has remained committed to the welfare of civil servants as demonstrated in the prompt payment of salaries over the years.

    “In view of the recent shortfall in the federal allocation experienced across the country, which resulted in the recent delay of payment of salaries, the state government has been engaging labour and making efforts to settle the outstanding arrears.

    “Government therefore is seeking the understanding of labour to avoid the proposed sit at home strike as it will worsen our economic condition and deny citizens access to basic amenities.

    “Following discussions with the office of the Accountant General, payment of August third party deductions and continuation of payment of September Salaries will commence Monday (Dec. 12),” he added.

    Hyat reiterated government’s unequivocal commitment and solicited workers understanding to fully resume work.

  • Qatar 2022: About 500 workers died on construction site – Qatari official, al-Thawadi

    Qatar 2022: About 500 workers died on construction site – Qatari official, al-Thawadi

    The total number of workers who died during the construction and renovations of stadia in Qatar has been put between 400 and 500 a top Qatari official has said.

    This is by far the country’s highest figure of casualties in history, according to Daily Mail.

    This  was confirmed by secretary-general of Qatar’s Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy, Hassan al-Thawadi, during an interview with a British journalist Piers Morgan.

    Morgan asked Mr al-Thawadi: ‘What is the honest, realistic total do you think of migrant workers who died from… as a result of work they’re doing for the World Cup in totality?’

    “The estimate is around 400, between 400 and 500… I don’t have the exact number.

    “That’s something that’s been discussed.’ The figure is a drastically higher number than any other previously offered by Doha”, Mr al-Thawadi replied.

    In a later statement issued regarding the controversial figures, the Supreme Committee said Mr al-Thawadi was referring to, “national statistics covering the period of 2014-20 for all work-related fatalities (414) nationwide in Qatar, covering all sectors and nationalities”.

    A foreign based publication had erroneously put the figures at 6,500 since the country got the hosting right in 2010,  but it has now been debunked by the Qatari official.

     

  • Workers at risk as Amazon shuts down business in India

    Workers at risk as Amazon shuts down business in India

    U.S. online retailer Amazon on Monday said that it would shut down its wholesale distribution business in India as it moved to focus more on its core retail business.

    Amazon Distribution, its wholesale e-commerce website available to small neighbourhood stores in Bengaluru, Mysore and Hubli, was designed to help small stores, pharmacies and department stores in India to secure inventory from the firm.

    “We don’t take these decisions lightly. We are discontinuing this program in a phased manner to take care of current customers and partners,” a company spokesperson said in a statement.

    The exit will result in layoffs of hundreds of workers.

  • Ireland to increase state pension for workers above 66 years

    Ireland to increase state pension for workers above 66 years

    Ireland on Tuesday announced that workers above 66 years would be given a higher state pension the longer they stay at work.

    The country was sidestepping a recommendation by a government-appointed commission to gradually increase the retirement age to 68 to help fund the ageing population.

    Under the proposed flexible model agreed by ministers, people will have the option from 2024 to continue working up until the age of 70 in return for a higher pension for each additional year they work.

    The state pension currently stands at 253 euros per week for those who retire at 66, and will increase to 315 euros for anyone who stays in the workforce until the age of 70.

    Social insurance rates will gradually be increased over time to pay for the measures, the government said.

    Similar to other countries, Ireland raised the retirement age to 66 in 2014 but it deferred plans to raise it to 67 in 2021 and again to 68 in 2028 after the pension age became a major issue at the 2020 election.

    The coalition instead appointed a Commission on Pensions, whose recommendations included gradually increasing the pension age so it reached 67 in 2031 and 68 in 2038 to help deal with what will become a major fiscal sustainability challenge.

    Ireland has a young demographic profile compared to its EU counterparts but the old-age dependency ratio was set to rise sharply in the next two decades so that by 2050 there will be just over two people of working age for every person over 65, compared with almost four currently.

    The finance department has estimated that by 2030 age-related expenditure was expected to cost an additional 3.3 per cent of gross national income when compared to 2019 costs.

    Mary Lou McDonald, the leader of Sinn Fein, the largest opposition party that has a huge opinion poll lead ahead of elections in 2025, called the proposals “a Trojan horse.’’

    She said it should be cut to 65.

  • FG to adjust workers salaries to current realities – Ngige

    FG to adjust workers salaries to current realities – Ngige

    The Federal Government says it will adjust workers’ salaries to meet the current realities in the economy of the country.

    Sen. Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment said this at the public presentation of the NLC of 40 publication titled, “Contemporary History of Working Class Struggles’’ on Monday in Abuja.

    Ngige said that the Federal Government was very much aware that the N30,000 National Minimum Wage had depreciated.

    “Yes the inflation has increased worldwide and it is not confined to Nigeria, that is why in many jurisdiction, it is an adjustment of wages right now.

    “We as the Nigerian government, we shall adjust in confirmative with what is happening in wages.

    “More importantly, the 2019 National Minimum Wage Act, right now has a clause for the review, which we started then, I do not know whether it is due next year or 2024.

    “But before then, the adjustment of wages will reflect what is happening in the economy,just as government has started the adjustment with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ‘’he said.

    The minister also explained that the Federal Government did not take ASUU to court over the prolonged strike of the union as some people claimed.

    Ngige said he would have failed in his duties if he did not refer the matter to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) after seven months of protracted discussions and negotiations with the union, which failed.

    He recalled that ASUU was at the stage of Collective Bargaining(CBA) negotiation with their employers, the Federal Ministry of Education when they embarked on strike.

    He regretted that the ASUU leadership did not even understand the import of CBA negotiation because they lacked the nutrients of labour unionism.

    According to him, we have to counsel our brothers on negotiation. No negotiation is forced. You cannot say it is either you give me 200 per cent or I will continue my strike.

    “There are laws guiding strike. There are ILO principles on right to strike. Nobody can take it away.

    ”But, there are things that follow it when you embark on strike as a worker and they are enshrined in the laws of our land.

    “It is written in Trade Dispute Act. The ILO principles of strike talks about the right of a worker to withdraw services. There is also right to picket. These are things that are done.

    ”Nigeria is respected in ILO. Some people said Federal Government took ASUU to court. No. I referred the matter after seven months of protracted discussions and negotiations that failed, ’’he said.

    Ngige recalled that he conciliated the dispute twice, first on Feb. 22, one week after the commencement of the strike and some agreements were reached, and he brought everybody back on March 1 for another conciliation.

    He added that the only thing left was going back to the Federal Ministry of Education for the renegotiation of the 2013 agreement.

    “Some people are saying 2009 agreement. The 2009 agreement has been renegotiated in 2013/2014 with the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan. It is an anathema to use 2009 agreement.

    “What is left is the renegotiation of their conditions of service, which is their right. It should be done but they are negotiating it under the principle of offer and acceptance and it broke down irretrievably there at the Federal Ministry of Education.

    “That kick-started Section 17 of the Trade Dispute Act whereby the Minister of Labour and Employment, whoever it is, if you don’t transmit according to the dictates of Section 17, TDA, 2004, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria.

    “This means you would have failed in your function. Therefore, I had to transmit, ’’he said.

    Ngige, however, said the transmission did not mean that the matter could not be settled out of court.

    He said either of the parties involved; the Federal Ministry of Education and ASUU could approach the NICN for out of court settlement.

    He maintained that Nigeria must be guided by laws and nobody should use the dispute to harass anybody.

    “The pro-chancellors said they want to do counter offer. I told them to do it as quickly as possible. Those are ingredients of labour relations.

    “It is not enough if you misinform your membership. That should be a disservice. We should read through things as it is and interpret same way. If I leave them in education, they will stay there two years,’’Ngige said.

    On the 40 years of NLC, Ngige said: “A fool at 40 is a fool forever. A wiseman at 40 is a wise man forever. NLC is a wise man forever.”