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New Pension Act: Workers warn against employers deduction
Babatunde Oke
Workers in the private sector of the nation�s economy have warned their employers against deducting their salaries for the purpose of funding the new pension system, until when all the grey areas identified by the labour movement were addressed.
The workers had opposed the new Pension Reform Act, which merged all existing pension schemes, except the Nigerian Social Insurance Trust Fund and those in the oil and gas sector.
They argued that the government should not tamper with the pension schemes in the private sector but should find a way to solve problems that bedevilled those of the public sector.
After meeting in Lagos on Friday, the 19 unions re-stated their opposition to the new scheme, unless the Federal Government amended the Act to include the inputs of the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and the Congress of Free Trade Unions, the three labour centres in the country.
The National Union of Shop and Distributive Employees; the National Union of Chemical, Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products� Employees; the National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions� Employees; the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the National Union of Air Transport Employees were represented at the meeting.
Others are the National Union of Food, Beverages and Tobacco Employees; the Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria; the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers and the National Union of Paper, Publishing and Press Workers.
The National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers; the Food, Beverages and Tobacco Senior Staff Association of Nigeria; the Iron and Steel Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, also attended.
�We re-affirm our unalloyed support and commitment to the Abuja Declaration on Pension Act as espoused by the NLC, TUC and CFTU. We agreed to popularise the resolutions and declaration amongst our rank and file members in such a way as to sensitise them to the danger inherent in the wholesale implementation of the new Act.
�All the concerned unions in private sector at all levels have to commence immediate grass roots mobilisation of our members for a positive action to resist the implementation of the Pension Act in all its ramification,� the workers said in a communiqu� issued at the end of the meeting.
The Punch, Monday August 02, 2004
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