Nigeria: Construction Workers Vow to Resist Abolition of Gratuity

Source from:  Vanguard (Lagos) 13 September 2007 09/14/2007

OPPOSITION against the abolition of gratuity by workers appear to the increasing by the day as the National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers (NUCECFWW), has joined the growing list of labour unions kicking against any form of cessation of gratuity. At its 8th Annual Industrial Relations/Education Conference, held in the ancient city of Ibadan, Oyo State, the union vowed to resist any attempt by either the employers or the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) to abolish gratuity because of the contributory pension system brought about by the Pension Act of 2004. Already Associations like Food, Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff (FOBTOB), Association of Bank, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSIBIFI), Shops And Distributive Trade Senior Staff Association (SHOPDIS), have all protested the cancellation of gratuity. Addressing the opening ceremony of the conference, President-General of NUCECFWW, Comrade Samuel Adeoye, warned that the issue of gratuity should not be toyed with to avoid unnecessary industrial unrest in the nation's economic operations. According to him: "It is a well-known fact that the Nigerian State pays lip service to social security. In spite of the tantalising constitutional provisions that enjoins the state to make the security and welfare of the people its primary purpose, mass neglect and poverty are very rampant. The Pension Reform Act has attracted mixed reactions. In the 7th edition of the NUCECFWW Annual Industrial Relations\Education Conference held between August 14th and 20th, 2005. We brought in Dr. Farouk Aminu of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM), Abuja, who made a compassionate explaination on why members of our union must partake in the contributory pension scheme. As it is today in respect to private sector employees, we are using this medium to advise them not to detain us any further in the Act. Our gratuity or terminal benefit which is paid in lump sum, has become a practice that is entrenched in industrial relations to the extent that it is often negotiated and often form part of terms in collective agreements, a reward for the contribution of the employee in sustaining the enterprise. The Pension Reform Act ought to be amended to ensure that workers in the private sector continue to enjoy the right to gratuity on the basis of collective bargaining. It does not make sense for workers who have had accrued right to gratuity to wake up one day and find no statutory provision for it. We shall resist. Enditem