Mohammed Shosanya
The Nigeria Labour Congress has directed its state councils where the national minimum wage has not been fully implemented to begin strike on December 1st,this year.
The action was conveyed in a communique issued at the end of the union’s National Executive Council
Meeting in Port Harcourt.
President of the union,Joe Ajaero,who signed the communique expressed deep frustration over the persistent delay and outright refusal by some state governments to implement the 2024 National Minimum Wage Act.
The communique quoted that:”This betrayal by certain governors and government officials across the country flies in the face of both legality and morality, as workers continue to be denied their rightful wages amidst rising economic hardship. It is a blatant disregard for the law and the lives of millions of Nigerian workers, who are being exploited by the very leaders sworn to protect them.
“The NEC therefore resolves to set up a National Minimum Wage Implementation Committee that will among others commence a nationwide assessment, mobilization and sensitization campaign, educating workers and citizens on the need to resist this assault on their dignity and rights.
The NEC expressed grave alarm at the increasing erosion of democratic norms and blatant disregard for the rights of Nigerian people to freely organize, associate, and express dissent.It noted that arrests, detention and trials on questionable grounds have become the order of the day.
The workers applauded President Bola Tinubu for his recent interventions,and implored him to release all remaining protesters in various jails across the nation as we had severally demanded earlier and creating adequate safeguards to avert future occurrence.
The NEC condemned the political crises in Rivers State, where a recent Court order seeks to block the disbursement of federally allocated revenue to the state.
The workers reasoned that this punitive measure,may effectively cripple the state’s capacity to meet its obligations to workers and the wider population.
They said the development is an attack on the rights and welfare of the people of Rivers State and a dangerous precedent that could destabilize governance in any other state.
They added:”The NLC stands in solidarity with the workers and people of Rivers State. We demand an immediate resolution that allows the state to continue to have unfettered access to its rightful revenue allocations. Nigerian workers will not stand waiting while their livelihoods are threatened by political manoeuvrings and vindictive actions.
“We are not interested in the politics of who is right or wrong but only in protecting the interests of workers and the people. We must learn to separate “politicking” from existential issues as politics that hurts workers and the people cannot be the best for our nation. The Congress warns that the failure of the various institutions and actors to rein in themselves may lead to our escalating our response”.
The NEC expressed appreciation to the federal government for providing Compressed Natural Gas buses to Congress but noted that they are grossly inadequate to address the huge gap in transportation focused at reducing costs for workers who daily commute to work.
It also noted the apparent CNG infrastructure deficits around the country which may scuttle the entire CNG objectives.
The workers demanded the provision of more CNG buses to Congress and establish the needed infrastructure for fuelling and maintenance to provide cheaper transportation to Nigerian workers across the nation.
