30th April, 2018
The National Rescue Movement (NRM) has appealed to all tiers of government to provide a conducive environment for Nigerian workers, to enable them to put in their best to move the country forward.
The party, in a statement issued by its Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Mr Isa Husaini, on Monday in Abuja, expressed support for the demand of workers for a realistic minimum wage.
The party felicitates with Nigerian workers on the occasion of the 2018 May Day celebration.
It urged states assemblies to wake up to their responsibilities by questioning their governors’ inability to pay workers’ salaries and pensions as and when due.
“The hardship encountered by state and local government workers as a result of lack of salaries is killing morale at that tier of governance,“ Husaini said in the statement.
He added that the development was among the numerous problems retarding the progress of the country.
The International Workers’ Day, also known as Labour Day or Workers’ Day in some countries, and often referred to as May Day, is a celebration of labourers and the working class.
It is promoted by the International Labour Movement and is celebrated every year on May May 1, an ancient European spring festival.
Its modern manifestations arise from the organised efforts of socialist and communist groups to establish a time for honouring workers and the working class.
The day, usually declared as public holiday, was first promoted by the International Workers Association in 1904 to commemorate the killing of protesting labourers in Haymarket Square in Chicago, U.S., in 1886.
The Nigerian Labour Movement under the aegis of the Nigeria labour congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), organise rally every year to celebrate the day.
The rally provides the platform for organised labour to demand for improved welfare for Nigerian workers.
The demand for a new minimum wage is expected to feature prominently in speeches to be delivered by labour leaders at Tuesday’s May Day rally.
Meanwhile, negotiations between the Federal and state governments on the one hand and labour leaders on the other on the proposed new minimum wage of N66,500 are currently ongoing.