Welcomes five new affiliates
The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has cautioned elected and appointed government functionaries from reveling in ostentatious lifestyles.Speaking at the end of its organs’ meetings in Abuja, President of TUC, Festus Osifo, said President Bola Tinubu, ministers and governors cannot be telling Nigerians to tighten their belts while the belts of appointed and elected officials have their belts loosened and amazing extra weight and living grandiose lifestyles.
“I wish to draw the attention of the government to the level of poverty in the country. I urge the government to tighten its belts at all levels. The Federal Government, state governments and government at the council levels must all tighten their belts as well. The government cannot be telling Nigerians to tighten their belts while government officials revel in ostentatious lifestyles. Buying bulletproof cars and embarking on global junketing cannot be termed ‘prudent’ by any definition. This, for us, is not acceptable,” he stated.
While the government is seeking to increase tax revenue, Osifo pointed out that poverty is swelling in the country and the population of poor people has continued to welcome the drive of new entrants as economic woes deepen.
The TUC President noted that at the National Administrative Council (NAC), Central Working Committee (CWC) and National Executive Council (NEC) meetings, the TUC critically examined the budget that was just submitted by President Tinubu to the National Assembly. His words: “For us, we have constantly stated that we are skeptical and worried by the state of our debt because our debt is continuously increasing.
This has put a huge burden on us as a country. This year’s budget is also a deficit budget. The level of borrowing is growing daily and the amount of money we require to service the debt is also growing daily in such a way that the amount of money we require to service debt is not catching up with our national revenue.”
While Osifo said the TUC appreciated the GDP-debt ratio argument, the revenue tax is a source of worry. On implementation of the wage award, Osifo hinted that payment has been made just once.
“Workers in the federal civil service have not received a wage award since October. We wish to call on the government to fast-track all the processes. We learnt that the government is currently putting some things in place to pay this money but our people are not ready to listen to excuses. All we want is that this money should hit the account of our members. We thank the government for what it has done so far, but it is not enough. We call on the government to remove all the bottlenecks that are being experienced regarding the wage award,” he said.
On wage award, Osifo said TUC will continue to urge the state government to pay, adding, “For some state governments that have agreed to pay the N35,000 wage award, kudos to them. For those who have also agreed to do something close to 35,000, we also appreciate them.
Those who are running away from doing anything should be rest assured that they are only postponing the day of reckoning. The people are hungry. This will end up increasing the level of crime in society because people will keep looking for what to eat. So, we call on all state governments, including the Minister of FCT, to make provisions for wage awards.”
TUC also encouraged the private sector to follow suit by providing succour to their workers. On the review of labour laws, Osifo urged the Minister of Labour and Employment to involve the tripartite bodies to agree on proposed amendments to avoid creating more challenges for the industrial space.
The TUC chief observed that the central labour body may be at loggerheads with some hotels that are resisting unionisation in their establishments, saying, “There are some hotels that are refusing to be unionised. One of our affiliates has approached several of these hotels and they are not forthcoming.
“While we wish to encourage them to allow their workers to belong to unions of their choice, they should also be educated that it is a fundamental right of workers to belong to unions. In the coming days, we intend to engage them to ensure that the issues are resolved.”
TUC also unveiled five new unions into its fold. They include the Law Officers Association of Nigeria (LOAN), Congress of University Academies (CONUA), National Association of Medical and Dental Academies (NANDA), National Butchers Employers Union of Nigeria (NBEUN) and the Association of Telecommunication Information u, Cable and Satellite Network Operators and Allied Services Employers of Nigeria (ATICEN).
The membership of these unions as affiliates of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria was approved by NEC. The central labour body also revealed that all the issues in contention during its last delegates’ conference have been resolved and a special delegates’ conference will be held before the end of the fourth quarter of 2024.
He added: “We will be having a special delegate conference as approved by NEC before the end of the fourth quarter of 2024 to do some constitutional reviews.”
