The National Executive Council of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has held an emergency meeting and has resolved to go on strike from the 10th of March 2021.
The meeting which was held virtually among all affiliates of the Union borders in an attempt to move the minimum wage from the exclusive to the current legislative list thus altering the provisions of the constitution, ploy to establish state judicial Council, and hoarding of petrol.
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The National Executive Council, NEC, of NLC, said the nationwide strike could be halted if only the National Assembly back down on its efforts at passing into law, a Bill seeking movement of the minimum wage from the Executive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.
According to the NLC President Comrade Ayuba Waba, the attempt to transfer minimum wage to a concurrent list was an attempt to plunge the country into chaos and make Nigeria a laughing stock in the international community.
Waba who said the political class were the major problems of Nigeria’s unity and progress, described as unfortunate, the move by the political class seeking to further worsen the precarious situation of Nigerian by declaring a war against the working class and prosecuting same by attacking the core rights of workers.
He further stressed that the major reason behind the call to move the minimum wage to the Concurrent Legislative list was to enable states to negotiate and fix their minimum wage, which may not be in cognisance with protection of employees in government and organised private sector, and particularly, the unorganised, the unskilled and the vulnerable in the highly un-governed space known as the informal sector.
He maintained that the National Minimum Wage was a global standard adopted by the International Labour Organization (ILO) through Convention 26 which was ratified by Nigeria on June 16, 1961, and that Nigeria as a Sovereign gave effect to the National Minimum Wage by putting it in the Exclusive Legislative List.
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According to the president,
“The protest is to make a strong statement that Nigerian workers would not lie low and watch hard-fought rights which are of global standards bastardized by opportunistic and narrow thinking politicians.
“The NEC resolved that the national protest action will be concurrently held in all the 36 states of the federation and to the different State Houses of Assembly across Nigeria;
“The NEC decided that should the need arise; it has empowered the National Administrative Council of the NLC to declare and enforce a national strike action especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the National Minimum Wage from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.
“The NEC condemned and rejected in its entirety the ploy to decentralize Nigeria’s judiciary through the establishment of State Judicial Councils describing the move as unpatriotic, self-serving and an attempt to throw Nigeria into judicial and social chaos.
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On the hoarding and artificial scarcity of petrol by marketers in major cities, NEC vowed to picket filling stations found wanting, while lamenting the great hardship it was imposing on an already suffering and traumatized Nigerian workforce and people who were being punished and further impoverished in order to satisfy the greed of a few marketers of refined petroleum products.
“The NEC called on relevant regulatory agencies of government to rise up to the protection of the interests of the majority of Nigerians from the exploitative hands of market forces who are bent on making maximal profits from the sufferings of fellow citizens;
“The NEC warned that should the current artificial scarcity persist that the various leadership structures of the NLC should picket petrol stations found to be inflicting pains on Nigerians, and the NEC resolved that all the resolutions and decisions adopted at the emergency meeting should be pursued in collaboration with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in the overall interest of all Nigerian workers.”
The communique was signed by the NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba.
© Control TV 2021.
