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Award for Governor Idris: America lady raises alarm over SSS harassment
From CHUKS EHIRIM, Abuja
AN American lady; Hilda Josef, who is country representative of Kasha International
Agriculture Development Organization... Reach
Out Nigeria takes Independence celebration to next level
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KELECHI DECA
AS Shakespeare rightly points that there is a tide in the affairs of men,
I believe there is also a tide in the affairs of a nation and the waves of
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Importers
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WORRIED about reported cases of faking of registered products, despite persistent
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Bankole,
Almona-Isei troubles escalate
From OGBU NGENE, Abuja
WITH the House
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Ernest Chukwuka
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ReachOut Nigeria, Thursday
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Imo parliamentary quarters
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targets 70 per cent of Nigeria 's manpower needs
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as monarch, Daniel warns Ijoko community leader
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lose your job’
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clash
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demolished
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poised for war over 'Okada' helmets
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boost
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of public servants banned from private aschools
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outbreak of Bird flu
ATM
succumbs to NLC
•Abolishes casualisation
By ANDREW OJIEZEL
AFTER hours of intense picketing, the management of Atlantic Textile Manufacturing
Company Limited (ATM) finally succumbed to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and
National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN)
and accepted unionism in the company.
Just as the management under the leadership of the Director, Mohammed Kodami,
and Executive Director Oloye Oye Solebo, also agreed to stamp out casualisation,
regularise employment of the entire workers, reinstate the three workers that
were sacked by the management for unionism and also vowed to restore all fringe
benefits to workers.
After lots of negotiations with the labour leaders in the textile and tailoring
industry, Solebo and Kodami led management agreed to from this September deduct
union dues, that workers that have served six months and above are automatically
given confirmation letters.
Also in the agreement signed by Solebo, Kodami, for ATM and union represented
by Deputy General Secretary, A.S.E. Aisagbonhi, Assistant Secretary, National
Union of Textile, Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) Chimezie
Sylvester and four others, the management agreed to restore all fringe benefits,
that apart from reinstating the three sacked workers to their position, no
worker would be victimised for participating in the besiege.
It would be recalled that the NLC, led by Assistant Secretary (organisation),
Denja Yaqub and NUTGTWN led by Chimezie Sylvester and Assistant General Secretary
of Textile Union, Dele Ojo, picketed ATM under the heavy rain over its refusal
to recognise unionism, for its 11 months of casualisation of all the entire
workforce and sacking of three members of union that was put in place.
Speaking with National Daily Denja said NLC was there to enforce the Labour
Acts 41 and 42, which stipulates that workers must not be used beyond six
months without proper letter of appointment as permanent staff.
Denja added, “The struggle has started; we will use this ATM as deterrent
to other companies that are interested in slave-labouring our people. Nigerian
workers should be treated with dignity; companies should not use the advantage
of the situation in the country to perpetuate slavery in Nigerians again.”
In separate interviews with National Daily, Comrade Dele Ojo and Sylvester
Chimezie confirmed what Denja said, saying “ATM has indulged in slave-labouring
Nigerians by deceit; it opened and closed down the company because it wanted
to put its workers under casualisation.
“We agree that there is large unemployment in the country, but shall
we allow that to be a licence for exploitation of Nigerian workers? ATM management
has been using the only Nigerian in their midst, Oye Solebo, to exploit Nigerians.
Last August 2007 the company closed down its operation, used September to
pay off its workers and reopened in October. Since it reopened, all those
workers have been on casualisation. Unless we have picketed it now, it might
have use another trick to close down before the end of this year just to avert
unionisation and also to avoid giving them permanent staffing status. Chimezie
and Ojo added you can imagine the callousness of Indian and Lebanese companies,
how they being paying N5, 000 and N10, 000 under this harsh economic situation.
So the only weapon at our disposal to fight against anti-labour organisations
like this is picketing. “When in March this year we inaugurated a union
here, Solebo who is a Nigerian, told the Lebanese people to fire three of
the executive members of the union we first put in place and since that time
till date no more union because Solebo shattered that move.”
Likewise the branch chairman of that dissolved union now re-recognised in
the ATM, Sesan Oduyale stated that the demands of the union was reengagement
of all the workers, recognition of the union and recalling of the three members
sacked for unionism.
