Transporters acting under the aegis of Rivers Transport Cooperative Union (RTCU) have warned executive of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) against continuous harassment of their members over purchasing of illegal stickers and tickets.
The president of the Rivers Transport Co-Operative Union, Comrade Binoye Sunday gave the warning while speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt recently.
Sunday condemned the alleged payment of multiple taxation by his members to .NUR1W in the Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor Local Government Areas and its environs and appealed to the agents of NURTW to desist from the unwholesome act as it is capable of causing crisis between them.
He explained that RTCU is a registered union by law under Section 20 subsection 1&2, but now an Act of Parliament 2004 Section 30(1) (2) which frees cooperative union from payment of tax all over the federation. He added that Allied and Income Tax Act section 26 also frees cooperatives adding that cooperatives are group of people who pull their resources together for the eradication of poverty.
He disclosed that cooperative was formed in 1844 by 13 factories in Britain and John Horlt was also one of the founders pointing out that in Nigeria the Federal Government also exempted cooperative unions from payment of tax as it is not one of the designated areas by the State Government to generate revenue
The RTCU president condemned the attitude of the Caretaker Committee as well as the Port Harcourt ‘City for allegedly harassing his members over illegal collection of stickers and tickets, noting that his members had not been harassed when Hon Timothy Nsirim was the chairman of Obio /Akpor.
Comrade Sunday said that the NURTW executives are gainfully employed drivers who work in prescribe industries such like bob lzua, Ifesinachi, lkeredirichukwu the Young Shall Grow and Rivers Transport Company (RTC) among others, fourth schedule section 7 the function of local government are clearly stated, he said.
He lamented that today the NURTW has abandoned its area of operations and encroached into the rights of self employed-and commercial drivers by extorting money from them on daily basis with all sort of tickets and condemned the multiple taxation on the helpless drivers adding that his members are sometimes subjected to maltreatment.
He advised NURTW to respect co-operative unions and treat them with dignity while recalling that in 1979 a letter was issued by the Ministry of Labour and Productivity warning NURTW to desist from harassing his members because everybody has the liberty and the choice to affiliate himself to any union of unions. ###
