7th February, 2016
Femi Adi/Kaduna
Ahead of the planned labour protest against hike in electricity tariff on Monday, the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN on Sunday declared its support to the planned picketing by labour and civil society allies of all offices of the electricity distribution companies (DISCOS) nationwide.
The textile union which commended Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, leadership for the mass action for improved power supply instead of incessant non-service charges, also rejected the hike in electricity tariff and called on its members across the country to join NLC protest.
Issa Aremu, General Secretary, NUTGTWN and Chairman, Industrial Global Union, Sub Sahara Africa, in a statement made available to our correspondent, said the unilateral and unlawful hike in electricity tariff is unacceptable.
The statement further reads: “The Textile Union instead calls for improvement in power supply. The point cannot be overstated. Between 30% and 35% of textile and garment manufacturing costs are energy related expenses. Without electrification there can be no industrialization.
“The promise and expectation that President Muhammadu Buhari will revive textile industry generally is not possible without electricity. Also it’s time for the Buhari administration to critically review the power sector reform with a view of increasing public sector investment.
“To this extent, government should listen to the voice and suggestions of the power sector unions namely the National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE).”