The public sector unions in the country are facing financial crisis with some of them struggling to meet their obligations to their members and employees including payment of salaries among others.……CONTINUE READING>>>>>>
Investigations revealed that the Federal Government has seized the check-off dues it deducted at source from the salaries of members of the unions affiliated to both the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, counterpart from November 2023 till date.
Checks also revealed that earlier last year, the government also withheld deducted check-off dues of these unions for months till NLC threatened a nationwide strike by May 20, 2023, before the Accountant-General of the Federation reluctantly released the money to the unions.
The same scenario seems to be playing out as it was gathered the money was processed for payment, but later diverted before release.
Among the affected unions are the Amalgated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees , AUPCTRE; Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU; Nigeria Civil Service Union, NCSU; Nigeria Union of Public Service Reportorial, Secretarial, Data Processors and Allied Workers, NUPSRAW; National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, and Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN.
According to checks by the press, efforts by affected unions through the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, JNPSNC, (Trade Union Side), have so far yielded no positive result.
It was gathered that the issue was discussed at the recent meeting of JNPSNC in Nasarawa State, where the unions lamented the challenges they face due to their withheld statutory fund.
The leadership of the trade union side of JNPSNC has also petitioned President Bola Tinubu, seeking his intervention to no avail.
NLC fumes
Concerned over the development and its wider implications to the public sector unions, the NLC in a letter titled: Continuing Refusal To Release Check-off Dues Accruing To Public Sector Trade Union dated January 31, 2024, warned that withholding of check-off dues accruing to trade unions amounts to interference in the activities of these unions.
The NLC’s letter through its General Secretary, Emma Ugboaja, reads in part: “The Continuing unfortunate deliberate withholding and piecemeal release of Check-off dues accruing to public sector trade unions in the country has been brought to our notice by our affiliates in the sector. These unions have therefore accordingly expressed their grievances regarding this intentional withholding or partial release through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, platform. We understand that this illegal act was at the instance of the Minister of Finance.
“This practice is totally unacceptable and runs counter to the traditions and principles guiding our engagement as social partners within the nation’s Industrial Relations sphere. We have had cause to have written to the Minister of Labour last year on this but report reaching us speaks to its unfortunate persistence. We find it inconceivable that check-off dues, deducted at the source from the salaries of public sector workers, would be subject to withholding or released in a piecemeal fashion when salaries themselves are not owed or disbursed piecemeal.
“We wish to draw your attention to the fact that this worrying development not only deprives our affiliates but also national labour centers of the financial resources necessary for their effective operation as workers’ representative organisations. Such actions represent a fundamental threat to trade unions and trade unionism in Nigeria, given that financial stability is crucial for the functioning of our organisations. We do not want to believe that this may be part of the ongoing onslaught against workers’ and trade union rights in Nigeria.
“It is imperative to remind you that the withholding of check-off dues accruing to trade unions amounts to interference in the activities of these unions. This interference is explicitly condemned by Article 2 and 3 of the ILO Convention Number 87 on Freedom of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise, as well as Sections 17 and 18 of Nigeria’s Trade Union Act, LFN, CAP T14.
“We must also stress that sitting on already deducted check-off dues amounts to impounding or illegal hijack of monies belonging to the trade unions. We may be forced to begin to see this as an intentional misappropriation of funds that rightly belong to trade unions driven by other motives if nothing is quickly done to put an end to it.
“As the supervising authority over public financial flows in Nigeria, we trust that you will act promptly to rectify this anomaly to avoid creating unsavory workplace outcomes. We have followed as always due process in handling this and have exercised unusual patience but allowing this to continue may put undue strain on our relationship.”
NLC demanded that “the Accountant- General immediately direct and ensure the release of all withheld check-off dues accruing to trade unions in Nigeria’s public sector.
We understand the gravity of this situation and sincerely hope for your swift and positive action to remedy this breach of our statutes. We may not be held responsible for any negative consequences that might arise if the check-off dues of Nigerian workers continue to be held hostage by the government.……CONTINUE READING>>>>>>
