Abuja, Aug. 14, 2023- Hassan Makola, National President of Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), on Monday warned state governments against reducing the number of work days in a week.
Many state governments in the country have introduced three-day work week as part of measures to reduce the hardship caused by the removal of subsidy on petrol price.
Makola gave the warning at the Quadrennial Conference/Election of the Abuja Council of the union in Abuja on Monday.
He said the idea of three-day work week was against international best practices,
Mokola said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had prescribed five work days in a week and eight hours per day of work.
“It says any practice that is contrary to the specifications of the ILO is likely going to affect national productivity adversely.
“All we know is that workers are expected to work for five days a week and eight hours per day.
“That ought to be maintained. Now if we reduce the number of workdays, that is going to affect productivity negatively,” he said.
NASU president also faulted the idea of working from home.
Makola said there is no infrastructure to make that happen now, especially with low broadband penetration and epileptic power supply.
He cautioned labour unions against accepting a reduction of days of work in a week, saying accepting the practice could lead to job losses soon.
“If the number of work days is reduced, it means that government could reduce the workforce by half.
“This is because if tasks that are executed in five days can be done in three days, it will mean that half of the workforce can do the job.
“So, the workers could become endangered species,” he said.
Michael Adebola, Chairman, NASU FCT Council, called for the scrapping of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
He said the salary payment platform had brought inconsistency and tears to workers and unions in tertiary institutions.
“The IPPIS which would have been a good system for union dues remittance is ineffective and full of fraudulent activities. There are lots of irregularities and short payments of union dues.
“A lot of branches in the FCT council are facing pending and unresolved issues with the IPPIS despite all the efforts to ensure corrections.
“We, therefore, appeal to the government to scrap IPPIS and replace it with a better system of unified payment.
“A lot of our members’ dues deductions are going to other unions’ accounts due to the mistakes of IPPIS.”
The union also bemoaned non-payment of palliatives by the Federal Government more than two months after the removal petrol subsidy.
Adebola said the unending upward adjustment in the pump prices of petrol which have moved from the initial N540 to over N617 per litre had worsened the plight of workers.
“We are not oblivious to the cries of our members in the FCT council on the high cost of transportation with a resultant effect on the cost of living.
“We demand that the government should work on policies that can alleviate the suffering of the masses through well-packaged palliatives.
“Also, they have to improve the salary structure, and our refineries should be refurbished and be put under good use,” he said. (GBN)
