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Minimum Wage: FG dashes workers’ hope

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The Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has said the new national minimum wage may not materialise in September as earlier envisaged.

Ngige, who disclosed this to newsmen on Tuesday at his residence in Abuja, said the September date was just a date to conclude negotiation on the issue of minimum wage.

He said: “The committee on the new National Minimum wage is expected to conclude its work by the end of September and present its report to the government for deliberation and approval before an executive bill is sent to the National Assembly on the issue.”

The minister, however, said the issue of capacity to pay was also paramount in the deliberations on the minimum wage.

According to him, it is to get the input of all those concerned, including state governments and the organised private sector, that the committee embarked on zonal public hearing across the country.

The minister said further that in the course of the zonal public hearings, many state governments made different submissions ranging from N22,000 monthly to N58,000.

Ngige added that the governors were also of the believe that for the new minimum wage to become effective, the current revenue allocation formula would have to be reviewed in favour of the states and local governments.

He said some other states were also of the view that the minimum wage should be maintained at the current N18,000 in view of the inability of some states to pay the current wages.

According to Ngige, when the minimum wage committee concludes its report, it will be submitted to the National Council of State and the Federal Executive Council for approval before a bill is sent to the National Assembly to legalise the work of the committee.

He said though it was not an easy task, the committee was making progress in its assigned responsibility.

He pointed out that six governors were elected to be members of the committee as well as representatives of the private organised sector in an effort to carry everybody.

On the threat of non teaching staff of universities to resume their suspended strike as a result of government failure to honour the terms of their agreement, the Minister said the government was sourcing for the N6 billion needed to pay them their earned allowances as contained in the agreement.

Ngige said with his experience as Minister of Labour, majority or about 95 per cent of agreements currently being paraded by trade unions in the country were signed before the President Muhammadu Buhari government came into office in 2015.

Based on this, he noted that most of such agreements had no timeline for implementation.

He also said many of the agreements signed by the past governments were not implementable because of the amount involved.

He added that the principles of the International Labour Organisation allowed employers to renegotiate agreements, when they feel they cannot implement.

He said: “What is important in all collective bargaining agreement is the ability to pay what is being demanded and what is agreed upon.”

Ngige appealed to striking health workers to return to work. while negotiations continue on their demands.

According to the minister, the delay in the implementation of their signed agreement was as a result of failure of the National Salaries, Wages and Income Commission to defend the two different figure presented to a government high powered committee.

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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