THE Federal Government and organized labour in the nation’s electricity sector are heading for a major showdown over disagreement on the payment of severance benefits and other entitlements due to over Fifty Thousand workers expected to be affected by the planned privatization of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.

THE need for improved industrial peace was one the major issues at the 55th Annual General Meeting, AGM, of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, NECA, that took place Thursday, July 12, 2012, at the NECA in Lagos.

FEDERAL Government representatives led by the Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji and Organised Labour in the electricity sector, under the umbrella of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEAC, met recently to resolve contentious labour issues ahead of government planned privatization of Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. The meeting did not only end in deadlock, but also, adjoin sine die and workers in sector have become very restive and threatening fire and brimstone.

JUDGING from the assessment by the organized labour in the Electricity sector, two years ago, the workers in the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN’s pension scheme has accumulated a whopping N331 billion.

WORRIED by report of massive unremitted pension funds by Private sector employers to the Retirement Saving Account, RSA, of workers, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, is to partner the National Pension Commission, PenCom, to ensure that such funds are recovered and remitted appropriately.

The Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Ade Ipaye, said that the lacuna in the old criminal law enacted since 1914 makes the comprehensive review of the law by the state government inevitable.

PENSION Fund Administrators will in the next four weeks know their fate if they met the new N1billion minimum capital base ordered by the National Pension Commission, PenCom.

NATIONAL Pension Commission, PenCom, has said that to further enhance the effectiveness of the Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS, the commission is proposing the amendment of the PRA 2004 to review the rate of pension contributions

PRESIDENT-GENERAL of the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, Comrade Anthony Nted, who also is a Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, in this interview with Labour Vanguard, spoke about ports concessioning, terminal operators, and insecurity among others. Excerpts

THE Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS,has raked in a total of 16 billion US Dollars since kick-off in 2004, the Director-General of National Pension Commission, PenCom, Mr. Mohammed Ahmad, has announced.

THE growing intolerance by Security operatives attached to the Chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team, PRTT, Alhaji Abdulrahman Maina, journalists, taken a dangerous twist as they have resorted to physical attacks on pressmen.

TUESDAY MAY 29, the nation celebrated 13 years of uninterrupted civil rule and as part of the activities marking the occasion, the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, brought together in Lagos, labour leaders, workers, civil society organizations and university lecturers brainstorm on “Strengthening Internal Union Democracy”

NO fewer than 1,300 officers of the Nigeria Immigration Service, NIS, retrenched in 2006, have appealed to the Federal Government for the payment of their entitlements.

As someone who retired in 1982 from the Federal Ministry of Defence, I had pursued my retirement benefits to no avail. My kids, very successful in life give me more than what I need but many a times, I feel the pension is my right, so why must I allow someone to steal it?

TRUSTFUND Pensions Plc weekend in Lagos, said it had paid a total of N13.99 billion to 37,536 pensioners under the new Contributory Pension Scheme, CPS.