Minimum Wage
in Osun State: We Condemn the rotten dealing between
Aregbesola Govt. and Renegade Labour leaders
Once again, the Rauf
Aregbesola-led Osun State government has shown its anti-worker and dubious
character with the current underhand dealing with renegade labour leaders to
deny workers their legitimate right to nationally legislated N18, 000 minimum
wage. This divide-and-rule tactic rather than cowing workers, will further
convince them of the need to fight the struggle to logical conclusion sooner
than later.
It will be
recalled that about two weeks ago, workers, arising from their congresses,
resolved to embark on a four-day warning strike to drive home their demand for
the implementation of the nationally legislated N18, 000 minimum wage, which
the Aregbesola government has stubbornly refused to implement. Indeed, workers
have held several congresses to call the attention of the government to the
need to fulfill its promise of implementing the minimum wage when the revenue
of the state improves. On the contrary, the government has been using various
dubious strategies to avoid the issue. In fact, since 2011 when workers went on
a three-month strike to compel the government to implement the new wage, the
government, in a dubious propagandist manner it is now known for, after some
ridiculous increase on workers salaries claimed to be paying N19, 001 minimum
wage. In the real sense, what were added to salaries of a majority of workers
were between N5, 000 and N10, 000. The most brazen attempt of government at
avoiding the payment of a real wage, is the dragging of workers and their
unions to the National Industrial Court with the aim of rubbishing the new
minimum wage by claiming that minimum wage is for the least paid worker, and
not all workers. This again failed, as the government was directed to implement
agreement it signed with workers, rather than trying to revise the new wage
law.
Not satisfied
with this, the government has gone a step further to break the labour movement
by buying over labour leaders. Thus, the statements credited to some labour
leaders claiming to represent workers of some unions: NULGE, ASCSN and MHWUN,
that they did not support the now-botched four-day warning strike, and the
subsequent bankrupt statement credited to national secretary of Joint Public
Service Negotiating Council (JPSNC) on the invitation of the state government,
to the effect that labour centres (i.e. NLC and TUC) do not have right to fight
for workers, call workers to congress, or workers taking action on the basis of
a congress, are not accidental. They reflect the pinnacle of the treacherous
attempt of the Aregbesola government at crippling the labour movement in the
state, in order to continue its grandstanding regime. It surely found easy
collaborators in the spineless and unprincipled labour leaders who are prepared
to sell their birthright for visas to London. This itself is aided by the
bureaucratic manner the unions are run, where labour leaders are not subject to
the democratic control of and probing by workers. Moreover, the failure of the
national leadership of labour movement in fighting to a logical conclusion the
implementation of the N18, 000 minimum wage across the board and at all levels,
both public and private sectors, contributed immensely to the current travail
of workers across the states.
We find it very ridiculous and
shameful actions of the renegade labour leaders, who rather than defend
workers, preferred to feather their own private nests. This action of the
labour further show the need for workers to not only make a fundamental resolve
to fight the struggle for the implementation of the minimum wage to a logical
conclusion, but to also, more importantly begin the process of reforming their
unions and their leadership, if they are to gain substantial improvement in
their living conditions. We of the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) maintain
our unalloyed and principled support for the workers in the state in their
quest for the implementation of the meager N18, 000 minimum wage, even if the
labour leaders prefer to sell their birthrights.
The renegade
labour leaders in their various statements claimed among other things that the
current Joint Negotiating Council (JNC) Chair, Mr. Adejumo in the state had
overstayed his term of office and cannot preside over meeting on minimum wage.
If this is true, it is unfortunate, and further reflects the bureaucratic
manner in which the unions are run, which has made many so-called labour
leaders to turn holding union offices into career because of the pecuniary
benefits and state patronages they get. But this excuse of the renegade labour
leaders is only a cover for their own betrayal. Are they just realising the
fact that the JNC Chair has retired now, when they have signed joint statements
and memo with the same person. How does the issue of who is the JNC chair stop
labour leaders from defending their members' right to a decent wage? Why use
the occasion of declaration of a warning strike to raise such issue? Interestingly,
these are labour leaders who have not called any press conference or issued any
statement on salient issues affecting their members but were quick to organize
press conference to condemn a warning strike. They could not even give
alternative approach to getting minimum wage implemented, neither did they
condemn the government's failure to honour agreement with workers.
If the
treachery of the renegade state labour leaders is condemnable, the ridiculous
support given this treachery by some national labour leaders is heart-rending.
Some labour leaders led by the national secretary of the JPSNC, Mr Omokhuade Marcus, were invited or more
appropriately mobilised by the state government, not to address the issue of
minimum wage implementation, but to assist the government in identifying which
faction of labour leadership to negotiate with. Of course, the government,
having being successful in dividing the labour movement leadership in the
state, mobilised the more pliable and useable hands in the national labour
leadership to drive a final wedge in the labour movement. Otherwise, why would
government turn itself into a labour arbitrator? Government knew those it was
negotiating with over minimum wage, so the issue of identifying what is
happening in the labour movement is self serving. It is only a cover for a more
sinister agenda – breaking the fighting spirit of workers. Unfortunately for
the working people, the government got a ready support in some spineless labour
leaders. The labour leaders did not of course invite the local leaders to
meeting to sort out the issue internally but rather mobilised themselves to the
well fueled government train, not to defend workers' struggle but to stab the
struggle in the back.
Of course, the
government claimed it cannot commit all its resources on workers alone, but a
government that wants to develop the state should know that it cannot do that
when workers, who should carry out the so-called development projects, are
poorly remunerated. On the other hand, politicians and so-called ‘technocrats’
in government are earning several multiples of workers’ salaries for doing
practically nothing in comparison to workers’ responsibilities. While
government claimed it does not have enough resources to make workers live above
poverty line, local government council executives, who do nothing than signing
revenue cheques and letters of identification, earn hundreds of thousands of
naira, while advisers and assistants, whose jobs, aside praise singing the
administration in the media and on social networks, are mere duplication of
civil servants’ responsibilities are living large. If the government can get
enough resources to pay its fat-cat officials and embark on job-for-the-boys
projects, it should have no problem paying workers a nationally legislated
wage.
Conclusively,
we call on workers to demand for immediate convocation of congresses of various
unions, and of the central labour unions, NLC and TUC, to decide how they want
to conduct the struggle. We call for fundamental restructuring of labour
movement on democratic and revolutionary basis, as against the current
arrangement where labour leaders, both local and national, have turned
themselves into bureaucratic fetter against workers’ interests and welfare.
More importantly, workers must realize the need to build a political
alternative to the anti-worker capitalist ruling parties in the country.
Signed
Alfred
Adegoke Kola Ibrahim
State Protem
Chairman State
Protem Secretary
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