– Chairman of the United Labour Congress in Delta has called on the federal government to push minimum wage to N100,000 for workers
– Williams Akporeha who is the Delta state chairman, said the present condition of the nation demands increase in workers salaries
– He said delta state government is flouting federal government’s directive on the use of the Paris Club funds
Chairman of the Delta state chapter of the United Labour Congress (ULC) has asked the federal government to upgrade the minimum wage to N100,000, or risk losing the avowed fight against corruption in the country.
Williams Akporeha, who heads the state chapter of the congress stated this while giving his speech at the May Day celebration held in Warri with the theme ‘Workers in a Recessionary Economy’, even as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) hosted a parallel event at the state capital in Asaba.
Akporeha attributed the prevalent graft in work places to the ‘the current miserable pay to workers in the name of minimum wage’, pointing out that there is an urgent need to review this figure upwards effective immediately, especially in the light of the ongoing recession.
Chairman of the United Labour Congress, Williams Akporeha (middle) with his executives at the workers day celebration in Warri on Monday
He noted that the recession has also caused some employers to stagnate employees’ promotion and refuse to employ even where vacancies exist.
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He also lamented the disheartening situation where workers are being paid percentages of their already inadequate salaries, despite the obvious fact that payment of goods or services in the country cannot be made in percentages.
The congress chairman further said contrary to the instruction from the federal government to states that the funds from the first release of the popular refund of Paris Club should be used to offset backlog of workers’ salaries and pension arrears; Delta state government decided on partial compliance by paying percentage of monthly salaries, even though the state has access to monthly federal allocation and Internally Generated Revenue to fund other state projects.
He described the act as a show of ‘utmost disregard for the plight and welfare of the Delta state workforce and pensioners’ and appealed to the state government to fully comply with the federal government directive to
The ULC chairman called on the state government to revitalize some defunct industries in the state such as the African Timber and Plywood Company, Sapele, Bendel Steel Structures, Enerhen, Bendel Hotels Ltd, Delta Steel Company, Ovwian Aladja, Asaba Textile Mill, Asaba, Ughelli Glass Factory, Ughelli, through the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative; as this would go a long way to reducing the unemployment in the country.
Factional labour union wants President Muhammadu Buhari to increase minimum wage to N100,000 for workers
The United Labour Congress (ULC) which proclaims itself a labour centre just like the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), and not a rival faction as popularly assumed, took a firm stand on the issue of casualisation of employees.
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It called on the government to deploy the instrument of state legislation in enacting laws against the act which it described as a modernized form of slavery.
“While it is profitable, especially for oil multinationals and service companies to continue to carry on with this anti labour practice unchallenged under different guise, such as fixed term employment or contract staffing, our people are the ones being exploited, over-worked and under-paid.
“As a result, employment opportunities are no longer attractive to our youths due to the fear of being exploited as casual workers for peanut,” Akporeha said.
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