THE International Labour Organisation, ILO, has said no fewer than 40 million are trapped in modern slavery and 152 in child Labour globally. The ILO said in a statement that a new research it developed jointly with the Walk Free Foundation, in partnership with the International Organization for Migration, IOM, had revealed the true scale of modern slavery around the world.

ORGANISED Labour is alarmed by the huge public funds spent on the nation’s power since 1999, with little or nothing to show for it, besides power outages and crazy bills compounded by crass inefficiency. While recent reports claim that more than N11trillion has been spent between 1999 and now, experts are of the opinion that the funds expended on the sector in the last 18 years, is far more than N11trillion.

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State, yesterday, said he smelt a rat in the current strike by workers in the state and thinks that it might be a ploy to frustrate the ongoing salary verification scheme.

The Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC has dismissed insinuations that it is secretly recruiting wards of some highly-placed Nigerians, saying, while there is no truth in such “wild speculations”, it is however trying to secure approval to recruit some Nigerians in the coming months.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state, Tuesday, said the death of some pensioners in the state, while waiting for their pension was not of his own making.

LEADERS of United Labour Congress of Nigeria, ULC, few days ago met in Lagos to review the socio-economic and political situations in the country as they affect the Nigerian workers and masses, and concluded that workers an indeed the Nigerian masses have been abused, denied, deprived, humiliated, persecuted, harassed and abandoned.

FEDERAL Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development’s pensioners have threatened mass action over their unpaid pensions and other entitlements for the past six years. This is as the National Pension Commission, PenCom, is fuming over ongoing moves to exclude paramilitary organisations including the police from the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.

NIGERIAN Labour Congress, NLC, has pleaded with the Kano State government to pay pensioners their backlog of unpaid benefits, lamenting that the state government owed over N11.2 billion of gratuities, death benefits and pension arrears.

WORKERS of Charles Mekwunye $ Co, Chambers, have continued to savour recent legal victory at Supreme Court over the finality of judgement of the National Industrial Court, NIC.

LEADERSHIP of the National Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE has warned state governors not to force the union into declaring industrial action in the country by not utilizing the recent Paris Club refund to offset all backlog of its members salaries.

I have always said that respect is the basis for any civilized relationship either between workers and employees or between government and ordinary man in the street. One of the basic requirements of respect is by promising and fulfilling. We agreed that minimum wage will be reviewed every five years, that is the understanding. For goodness sake, at least, let us have a minimum wage committee that will try to explain or make some adjustments so that the workforce will believe that they are not being taking for granted.

ORGANISED Labour agitation for a new national minimum wage has received a boost from unexpected quarters where many have argued that a new minimum wage is not feasible at this time of economic recession. But in an interview with Labour Vanguard, a renowned industrial relations expert and Group Deputy Managing Director, Kewalram Chanrai Group, Mr. Victor Eburajolo, believes the Nigerian economy stands to benefit more from the new wage, contending that Organised Labour is not doing enough to push for an upward review of the national minimum wage.

Human capacity development is the key to any meaningful development irrespective of where you are in the world

As country, we must have a policy that the employer, the worker and the government must key into it

There will be inflow of technical assistance on varying specialised areas especially labour laws, finance, production, skill acquisition, job creation, general labour administration