The 18th International AIDS Conference was held from18 to 23 July, in Vienna, Austria . For the International Labour Organisation, it provided an opportunity to launch the implementation phase of the new international labour standard.

NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, has resolved to call for a definite time frame within which all outstanding payments must be completed to avoid it dragging indefinitely with the attendant risk of recurring industrial action.

NIGERIA Labour Congress, NLC, has faulted the planned abolition of Education Tax and Education Trust Fund, ETF, saying the fund remains one of the strongest and viable sources of fund to the education sector in the face of government’s continued indifference to funding educational activities.

After about 18 months of a struggle for a new national minimum wage, organised labour has got the nod of other social partners; government and private sector employers represented by the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association ( NECA) for a review of the national minimum wage from N5,500 in 2000 to N18,000.

LEADERS of over 7000 Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA Pensioners, under the aegis of NPA Pensioners’ Welfare Association, have petitioned President Jonathan, urging him to prevail on the management of NPA to settle r 11 years unpaid pension arrears and other benefits, lamenting that no fewer than 1000 of them have died while waiting for their entitlements.

FOR a long time, informal sector workers who constitute the greater number of workers in Nigeria, had no umbrella body to propagate, promote and defend issues affecting them. Their activities and operations were seen un-coordinated. All that could be a thing of the past with the birth of the Federation of Informal Workers, FIWON.

CAMPAIGN for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, has condemned harrowing and dehumanising treatment of pensioners by both the federal government and state governments and called on Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and its Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC’s counterpart, to quickly intervene and defend the rights of the pensioners who spent their productive life to work the nation.

TWO Nigerians took a journey of discovery about the role of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE) since its inception in 1986 and gave the Directorate a pass mark. Speaking in Gombe, the Governor of Gombe State Alhaji Dajuma Goje said that he turned to the NDE to make a living in his earlier business pursuit and benefitted immensely from the Directorate assistance in the late 80’s.

MARITIME Workers Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has assured Tally Clerks and Onboard security members of the Dockworkers branch of MWUN, that their three years arrears of minimum wage would be paid within the next two weeks.

SINCE the commencement of the Mallam Lamido Sanusi led Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN reforms in the banking industry in August last year, the sector has been in the eye of the storm for among others, industrial crisis as employees until recently, were being retrenched without due process.