- Allegations False, Says Trustfund
By Our Reporter, with Agency reports
THE NIGERIA Labour Congress (NLC) on Tuesday picketed the offices of Trustfund Pensions Limited nationwide over alleged anti-labour practices.
The NLC is a major shareholder of Trustfund Pensions Limited with two representatives on Trustfund’s board.
Both organisations have collective ownership of the 11-storey Paschal Bafyau Labour House which houses their headquarters in the central Business District (CBD) of Abuja.
But Comrade Ismail Bello, Deputy General Secretary of NLC, said while addressing newsmen during the picketing in Abuja, that the Congress could no longer ignore the extent of alleged labour standard violations being committed by Trustfund Pensions Ltd.
The protesters carried placards with inscriptions such as: “Stop casual and contract employment, pay fair wages; “union membership is a fundamental right; “respect workers right to freedom of association”, among others.
“The immediate issue relates to the sack of 45 workers which we consider to be a redundancy exercise, but the management considers it to be a routine management discretion.
“The other issues relate to casual and contract employment and unfair treatment of this category of workers both in terms of wages and their condition of employment.
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“In addition, there is also the issue of unfair labour practices being meted on workers by the organisation,” he said.
He added that Trustfund is a Pension Fund Administrator (PFA) that takes care of pension investment of workers and it is also a PFA in which the NLC has a stake.
According to him, we believe that we can deal with all issues through a process of dialogue, but, unfortunately, the management of Trustfund has not shown good faith when it comes to discussing labour issues.
“We think that for a business in which we have a stake, we expect the utmost level of labour standards and the least that Trustfund can do is to ensure that the right of workers to belong to the union is respected.
“This is because when you have a union in the workplace, you have a social partner to dialogue with, you have a social partner to do collective bargaining with,” he said.
Bello therefore said that PFA must ensure respect for workers’ rights, casual staff must enjoy the best standard of employment and disengagement entitlements should be paid.
In a reaction, Ms Chinalulum Uzomah, Head, Corporate Communications of Trustfund expressed disappointment over the picketing by the NLC.
According to Uzomah, this unprovoked act is regrettable and contrary to all known procedures for declaration of labour dispute.
“The NLC is a shareholder in Trustfund and also sits on its Board. The issues being raised by NLC concerning workers are false.
“This is because no employee of Trustfund is on contract. On the issue of wages, we make bold to say that Trustfund pays industry competitive wages that has just further been enhanced.
“As a regulated business, we go the extra mile to ensure that all our actions are within the law and regulations guiding labour relations,” she said.
She therefore apologised to their numerous customers nationwide for the current disruptions in their services and the inconveniences.
