Labour Urges Govt To Improve Lives Of Workers

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The organised labour on Tuesday called on the Federal Government to evolve policies that would improve the lives of the Nigerian masses and promote the growth of the nation’s economy.

Mr. Idowu Adelakun, the Chairman, Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), made the call during the 2012 May Day celebration in Lagos.

According to him, good policies will promote peace and welfare of the people.

“The challenge facing the society is to create a political, economic and social system that promotes peace, human welfare and sustainability of the environment on which life depends,” he said.

The chairman said that the federal government should develop an initiative that would create jobs, food and education, which are the basic necessities of life for the people.

Adelakun advised the Federal Government not to adopt the World Bank and International Monetary Fund’s policies to the detriment of the nation’s economy.

“This conscious choice which the government appears to have made since 1999 to serve foreign interests rather than the nation, has led to the total misdirection of huge wealth of our society towards ends that are detrimental to human centred national development,” he said.

The chairman urged the state governments to create a conducive atmosphere and good human and working relationship with workers in their respective states to forestall industrial crises.

Also speaking, Mr. Akeem Kazeem, the Chairman, Lagos State Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), decried the inability of some state governors to pay the agreed N18, 000 minimum wage to their workers.

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He said it was sad that while some governors paid political office holders in their states jumbo salaries, they were reluctant to pay the N18, 000 minimum wage to workers.

The TUC leader also urged the state governments not to allow the revelations made during the various probes at the National Assembly to be swept under the carpet.

“It is the collective responsibility of all Nigerians to ensure that justice is done and the culprits brought to book to serve as deterrent to others,” he said.

Kazeem asked the Lagos State Government to ensure that people had right to food, education and security.

He further spoke of the need for the state government to settle the rift between it and the striking doctors to guarantee the provision of good health services.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the celebration was the “Right to Work, Food and Education: Panacea to Security.”

No fewer than 5,000 workers from 40 labour unions, clad in different uniforms, thronged the Onikan Stadium, to mark the day.

Workers Day is an annual event, which is celebrated globally, evolving out of workers’ struggles to compel employers to recognise the need for an eight-hour working day.

It is recognised by the International Labour Organisation as a day to celebrate worker’s achievements.

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