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By Bimbola Oyesola
With over 11.2 million out of job, about 19.7 per cent, up from the 19.3 recorded in the 2nd quarter couple with the 18.47 inflation rate the highest in the past 11 years the outgoing year has been a challenging one for the Nigerian workers and the organised labour movement.
More than any other years in two decades, organised labour unions lost their members in droves to the premature closure of companies as a result of recession
In the food sector, the unions, National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees (NUFBTE) and Food Beverage and Tobacco Senior Staff Association (FOBTOB) reported to have lost almost three million members in a year, while negotiation is still ongoing for redundancy. The same story is in the other sectors like chemical, maritime, textiles, construction.
If the situation of workers in the private sector has been precarious, the public sector is more pathetic with almost 27 states owing three to nine-month salaries. Some had even gone ahead to slash the meagre salary, while some are yet to implement the national minimum wage of N18, 000, which had elapsed last year and long overdue for review.
inflation
According to him, employers of labour, either in the public or private sector, now hardly give any thought to the welfare of their workers.
Though he attributed the fall in the price of crude oil, free fall of the Naira, disruption in the Niger Delta by militancy group, corruption, among others, as reasons for the crisis, the labour leader believed that more commitment and action are desired to get Nigeria out of the woods.
He said, “Massive corruption and maladministration had combined to further incapacitate workers and the masses. The governors have continued to be reckless in their spending and plundered state resources. The issue of non-payment is not because there was no money, but what those governors considered as priority. Efforts of states like Katsina, which cleared arrears of pensions and Plateau that cleared outstanding salary arrears of six or seven months are commendable.”
The Secretary General of the Association of Senior Civil Servant of Nigeria (ASCSN), Alade Bashir Lawal, corroborating the NLC president, said the year 2016 with all its negative impacts ranging from unpaid salary, agony from government bad policies, inflation and high cost of living, made it a year workers would like to forget in a hurry.
According to him, “Nigerian workers have really been stretched beyond their limit. States especially Osun has
The NLC president also believed that the easiest way out of recession for the country lies with a well motivated workforce. “There is need to get money into the system to improve the purchasing power of the people for the economy to pick up. It happened in the United States when President Barrack Obama just came in. It has been tested all over the world. If people don’t have the money how can economy survive? The battle against corruption also would be in futility because any one that does not have money would be easily manipulated.”
Divided house
The NLC crisis that began last year took a turn for the worse this year as government was able to capitalise on this to score a point during the fuel crisis in May.
Initially, the NLC, including the splinter group led by Joe Ajaero and Trade Union Congress (TUC), had kicked agaist the hike in pump price from N86 to N145 per litre. Labour had threatened to embark on indefinite strike from their different fora, but midway, the Ajaero-led team and TUC backed out and went ahead to discuss with the government, who planned to assuage the suffering of Nigerians from the new pump price with some palliatives.
Though the NLC led by Wabba felt betrayed and had gone ahead with the strike, it was bound to fail as government mounted other propaganda against them.
The National President of the TUC, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, gave reasons why the TUC disagreed with the NLC shortly before the commencement of the planned strike, saying that NLC was dogmatic in pressing its demands.
Kaigama said the NLC came to the negotiation table with only one item, which was that the price of fuel be reverted to N86 per litre, even though the meeting with government afforded opportunity to address the contending issues once and for all.
It was indeed a disappointing outing for the movement as the strike was a flop nationwide, though NLC, while calling it off, said it achieved some level of success at sensitising Nigerians on the disadvantage of the pump price increase.
The announcement by the NLC splinter group this month, of the formation of a new labour centre, United Labour Congress (ULC), however, came as rude shock to Nigeria.
But in a swift reaction, the NLC vowed to preserve the unity and coherence of the labour movement.
Wabba said relevant organ(s) of congress would soon meet to review the latest challenge posed to the unity of the movement.
He added:“Unfortunately, as Nigerians saw during our last national strike against the fuel price increase by the Federal Government, our comrades chose to allow themselves to be used as willing tools to undermine our collective struggle.”
Pay rise
Organised Labour at this year’s May Day formally presented its demand for the upward review of the national minimum wage from N18,000 to N56,000.
Labour hinges its demands, despite the parlous state of the economy, on the grounds that a minimum wage review is long overdue.
Labour leaders think the wage increase is only a matter of necessity and legality.
Though the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, had early this month in Awka, the Anambra State capital announced that Federal Government was proposing a pay rise for workers in the new year, the non-provision for the new wage in the 2017 undermine the sincerity of the government.
However, the President of the Congress noted that government could always make a supplementary budget as labour is fully prepared for a showdown with government early next year if it fails to constitute the tripartite committee that will deliberate on it.
The NLC President, in spite of the economy, maintained that the N56,000 is reasonable when marched it with the present economic indices which had eroded the purchasing power of the workers and reduce them to nothing.
“We agreed that it’s challenging for the employers as well. But this is the best time to ask for review. all the indices used all over the world, inflation, cost of living index and others have all been addressed before we arrived at the figure. Minimum wage is central to workers survival”, he said.
Outlook
With 30 per cent of this year’s budget on the revamping of industry and agriculture, Wabba was optimistic that the country would turn out for good, if the budget is implemented to the fullest.
He stated: “At least, if we can have it implemented up to 80 per cent, this would make the productive sector to pick up and invariably change the conditions of the workers. Although we must not expect things to change overnight, hence we must continue to support the process.
