Seemingly averting a threatened strike, a union at Parcast has reached a tentative agreement with Spotify and Parcast management on a first contract covering the podcast studio’s content writers, fact-checkers, producers, researchers and other workers. The Parcast Union — which is affiliated with the Writers Guild of America, East — announced the deal on Wednesday night, their final day of bargaining with the music streaming giant and the Spotify-owned podcast studio, and are not yet disclosing terms of the tentative agreement. “After months of regular meetings, late-night emails, private calls, & full unit efforts, we’re proud to announce we have a deal,” the union tweeted on Wednesday night. “We couldn’t have done it without the consistent support of our colleagues. It’s been a worth...
The Federal Government has directed members of the striking Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) and the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN) to “urgently” call off their over-two-month-old strike. The Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, gave the directive in a statement on Tuesday, threatening that the government might be forced to invoke “sections of the Trade Disputes Acts” if the strike persisted longer. The threat is a government’s familiar warning of possible introduction of “no-work-no-pay” policy to break adamant striking workers. “The ministry will not be happy to be pushed into invoking sections of the Trade Disputes Acts capable of eroding all the gains made so far in the negotiations since May 6, 2021,” the statement signed by the ministry of Labou...
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa and some opposition politicians received China’s Sinovac Covid-19 vaccine in the tourist resort of Victoria Falls on Wednesday as part of efforts to encourage citizens to get inoculated. Zimbabwe has registered vaccines from China, India and Russia for emergency use but none so far from Western manufacturers. In a country where suspicion and scepticism often trump facts, Mnangagwa’s vaccination at a public event, together with opposition leaders, was meant to assure citizens that the vaccines were safe. The southern African nation had planned to administer the Sinopharm vaccine to 53 000 health workers and selected security forces when it rolled out the first phase of its programme on 18 February, but only 44 135 people had been vaccinated by Tuesday...
Pool Photo The Lagos State Chapter of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) on Monday said the stay-off-road action by commercial buses on the Lagos-Badagry Road was unnecessary. The Secretary of the chapter, Abdulrahman Amusan, told newsmen that the N800 ticket imposed on commercial buses in the state was for tax purposes. Newsmen report that the commercial bus drivers had on March 1, embarked on what they called “Cease Commuter Operation” on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway – from Badagry to Mile 2 – following what they termed an unbearable increment in ticketing and brutality by RTEAN. The drivers were still off the expressway while passengers remained stranded at various bus stops. It is still not certain when they will return to the roads. They claim that both the RT...
The Academic Staff Union of Secondary Schools (ASUSS) has commended the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity for granting recognition to the trade union in spite of an alleged deregistration plot against it by a rival union. ASUSS also saluted the Supreme Court of Nigeria for proving the judiciary as the last hope of the common man by upholding its appeal in a judgment delivered on January 15, where it held that ASUSS’ registration did not contravene the trade union statutes. This was contained in a statement entitled “A Woeful Cry; Agony Of A Loser” signed by ASUSS National Secretary Sola Adigun and made available to reporters in Ado-Ekiti on Saturday . Adigun, who doubles as the ASUSS Chairman in Ekiti, upbraided the national leadership of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) for m...
Industrial crisis is looming in Ekiti over sack of 21 workers of the State House of Assembly recruited under the tenure of former Governor Ayodele Fayose. The workers were sacked in January 2020 over claims that their recruitment by the Fayose administration did not follow due process and was therefore illegal, according to News Agency of Nigeria. But the labour unions disagreed with the sack of the workers and had asked the leadership of the Ekiti State House Assembly to recall the 21 sacked workers, a request that has not been acceded to . On Wednesday, the unions gave notice to Speaker, Funminiyi Afuye, indicating their readiness to embark on statewide strike in seven days if the workers were not recalled. In the notice, the labour unions asked the Speaker to cause the immediate reinsta...