Nigerian workers already enmeshed in dire labour issues are ending the year with the emergence of a new movement, the United Labour Congress (ULC) formed on December 16, 2016.
The emergence of the new union came even though the workers have a backlog of unpaid salaries and other issues pending in the states and its affiliate unions.
Sadly, it came as a result of the factionalisation of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) due to leadership tussles, further weakening the congress that could no longer confront the government to meet its members’ demands of good welfare.
One of the NLC factional leaders and General Secretary, National Union of Electricity Employees of Nigeria, Joe Ajero, emerged the President of the new union after some unions in TUC and NLC elected him in Lagos.
Ajero in inaugural speech, promised to fight for workers salaries and wage increase in 2017, apparently, wanting to be the Messiah who will uplift the workers.
However, some workers have expressed the opinion that it may not be easy for the three unions to wrestle their demands from government except they work in tandem.
Doing so will help labour issues that have recently become part of Nigeria’s national life with the disputes stemming mainly from unpaid workers wages and salaries and welfare matters.
In the decades past, labour disputes and unrest were witnessed more in the industries where poor pay and welfare often irked workers to demand for good working conditions.
Today, it is mainly civil servants; a development that has taken the lives of some of them as witnessed in Nasarawa State on July 29 over the state government’s proposed 50 per cent salaries slash.
Two workers of the Nasarawa State Civil Service were reportedly killed, while five others sustained various degrees of injury when a policeman in the Nasarawa State Police Command shot at protesting workers.
Then, the national leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress visited the state governor, Umaru Al-Makura, over the purported 50 percent slash of the workers’ salary.
But amid the issues of owed salary arrears and poor workers welfare, it is pertinent to note that states like Lagos, Edo, Anambra, Delta, Enugu, Ebonyi, Kano, Cross River, Akwa Ibom, Borno and Kaduna do not owe their workers.
It is also germane to note that Edo under Gov. Adams Oshiomhole recently raised its workers minimum wage from N18,000 to N25, 000.
It is catalogue of problems but some of the most recent ones were the recent crisis in Imo over plans by the State Government to cut workers salary by half in spite of their being owed arrears.
The government also said that the working days will be reduced from five to three. The development did not go down well with the workers.
These culminated in the NLC and TUC members storming the state secretariat in Owerri in February and forced the government to pay workers their salaries and recall those it sacked.
The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) also issued a one month warning to go on strike over the non-payment of salaries of its members in 14 institutions spread across the country in the last 10 months.
The states where the affected institutions owing workers under the aegis of ASUP between two to 10 months salaries include Abia, Osun, Ekiti, Oyo, Benue, Imo, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Ondo, Kogi, Ogun, Edo, Lagos and Nasarawa.
The issues in dispute include the non-implementation of the Needs Assessment Report of 2014, the conduct of needs assessment survey for public polytechnics and monotechnics and the review of Polytechnics Acts.
Another case is that of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso Chapter, which in 2015 protested the non-payment of 13 months’ salary arrears owed by the two state governments that own the institution.
The organised labour under the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) issued various strike notices and ultimatums for the affected states to pay workers salaries and arrears to avert strikes.
In Kaduna for example, labour unions gave Gov. Nasir El-Rufai a seven-day ultimatum to pay all backlog of salaries owed workers or face the wrath of organised labour unions and civil society groups.
To end the lingering and back-breaking burden of unpaid workers’ salaries in several states of the country, President Muhammadu Buhari approved a comprehensive relief package.
To assist the states, the Federal Government in 2015 gave N713.7 billion as bailout funds to defray the backlog of salaries. In 2016 the government gave another N90 billion loan with 23 states getting it.
However, most of the 23 states that got the bailout cash from the federal government to settle arrears of workers’ salaries and emolument diverted the funds to other purposes, thereby defeating the aim of providing succour to workers.
According to an analysis by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offence Commission (ICPC) conducted in conjunction with the NLC, many of the states failed to apply the amount received from the Federal Government to settle their debts to their workers.
The action left the states enmeshed in huge arrears of salaries to the staff in spite of collecting the bailout cash.
Still to address the problem, President Buhari approved a three-pronged relief package, including sharing of fresh allocations, granting of soft loans and restructuring of states’ debt-servicing payments.
However, labour and concerned Nigerians have decried the continued release of bailout funds to the states if they will not use the money to settle the workers.
Mr Tokunbo Korodo, NUPENG’s South-West Chairman, advised state governments to generate income through other means to pay workers salaries.
According to him, the federal government should not give bailout if it will not be used for workers salary.
“The states must revitalise viable sectors such as agriculture as a credible alternative to the over-dependence on revenue generated from the federation account.
Also, Mr Victor Oyoku, a union leader, said that he was not in support that the Federal Government should continue to give bailout fund to the states.
“There is no way government can continue to give bailout funds, especially with the state of the economy which is in recession and affecting government programmes.
“That is why we are appealing to the government to diversify the economy.
“I call on state governments to ensure to invest and generate their own revenue to be able to take care of their workers,’’ Oyoku said.
For Mr Tunde Olagoke, a worker in a leather and footwear company, if the government will closely monitor to ensure that the money is judiciously used for the payment of salaries, he will support another round of bailout.
“But if otherwise, the government should stop to avoid continuous mismanagement of funds.’’
Also, Mr Lanre Oke, Executive Secretary, Chemical and Non-Metalic Products Employers’ Federation (CANMPEF), believes that the government can give another bailout if the money is judiciously used to pay debts owed workers.
Oke said that it was regrettable that leaders in the states are not being accountable for money collected and urged the Federal Government to ensure that such money was properly utilised.
In all these, the workers are not getting any reprieve as it is clearly becoming difficult for them to muster forces to fight for their right.
The sad development of NLC breaking into two factions has left them unable to speak with one voice.
With the development issues of wage increase and other welfare matters which are the bone of contention may not be easy to tackle as each may want to be seen as the Messiah that uplifted the workers
From the foregoing, it is clear that states should endeavour not to depend solely on the Federal Government’s allocation for their survival.
They should look inwards at their natural endowments and determine their areas of comparative advantage and leverage on them.
Also, now that there are three prominent umbrella workers’ unions, they should aspire to have a united front in fight the rights of workers.
(NAN/FEATURES)