Labour has sounded a note of warning to the Federal Government to prepare for another round of industrial unrest over dissatisfaction with the management of national resources and non-implementation of the new minimum wage in some states.
This was the outcome of the May Day rally in Abuja on Tuesday, May 1, 2012, attended by National leaders of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress, TUC, as well as top government officials.
NLC president, Abdulwaheed Umar said its state chapters where workers are yet to start the new pay have been put on notice of the industrial action.
The NLC president also warned that labour would resist attempts to stop striking by workers through a new bill by the National Assembly.
“Apart from unemployment, increasing inflationary pressures continues to erode the earnings of workers. The fuel price increase in January in particular unleashed an inflationary pressure which brought up aggregate price level. These have impacted negatively on the real wages of workers including the national minimum wage.
“Comrades, you will agree with me that there is an urgent need to rethink the policies which are producing these undesirable outcomes,” the NLC boss stated.
The NLC leader also claimed that some forces within government over the perfection of strategies to further increase the pump price of petrol in a bid to completely remove the subsidy, but assured that labour would resist the move.
The NLC has also warned that the purposed merger of federal agencies should not lead to loss of jobs.
NLC president Abdulwaheed Umar issued the warning in a reaction to the recommendations of the steve Orosanye led committee on restructuring of Federal government agencies and parastatals.
“While we agree that there may be parastatals and agencies whose functions can be streamlined and merged to enhance efficiency and reduce overhead cost, we caution that this needs to be done carefully. We are particularly concerned that the merging of some agencies must not be an excuse for job shedding,” Umar went on to say.
The labour chastised the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria because of lack of investment and supporting infrastructure.
In a related development, the president General of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Peter Esele, said labour would continue to push for a better deal for workers despite attempts by forces within government to weaken the movement. He said the prevailing conditions in the country justify the theme for this year’s celebration.
“The theme of this year celebration is “Right to work, food and education, a panacea to insecurity.” This theme aptly captures the mood of the nation. This underlines the centrality of work as the basis for social engagement and participation. It underscores the consequence of a runaway government, the government that has also abdicated its responsibility for the people and the nation. The government seems to have also lost its connectivity to the people,” Esele said.
Meanwhile president Jonathan has hailed Nigeria workers on May Day with promise to address key issues presented by labour Leaders.
Jonathan frankly stated that the welfare of workers remains his preoccupation. The president’s May Day address was delivered by the minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu
“This for me is an article of faith to which I am irrevocably committed to. I am particularly gratified at the very apt theme that you have chosen for this year’s celebration, ‘Right to Work Food and Education: A Panacea to Insecurity.’ You could not have settled on a more appropriate theme than one which directly links to the citizen’s welfare with the security challenges which our country is facing today,” the minister stated.
Meanwhile, there was tight security around the Eagle Square, Abuja, the venue of the May Day rally in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
The area was fortified with soldiers in addition to hundreds of regular police and officials of the National Defence corps and men of the fire services.
The rally recorded a mass turn out of workers.
The strike by workers of the Medical Association in Lagos was the focus of the May Day rally at the Onikan stadium.
Officials of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity and NLC and the TUC all appealed to the striking doctors to reconsider their decision and return to work in the interest of patients.
A director in the Labour Ministry, Nafisat Arogundade who represented the minister, urged workers to always engage in dialogue rather than confrontation in resolving issues.
“We appeal to the Lagos State Medical Guild to prevail on its members to prevail on its members to go back and work in the interest of the state and the nation in general,” she appealed.
Also speaking the state chairman of the NLC, Idowu Adelaku and TUC chairman, Hakeem Kazim said the current face-off between the doctors and government was unhealthy for the people. ####
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