By Victor Ahiuma-Young

THE new leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, led by Joe Ajaero, as part  of efforts to  among others, strengthen NLC and make it more responsive to workers and the Nigerian masses, has commenced a farmiliarisation visit to industrial union affiliates.

At the National Union of Chemical Footwear, Rubber, Leather and Non-Metallic Products Employees, NUCFRLANMPE, Otta, Ogun State, National Secretariat where the visit started from, President of the Union, Babatunde Olatunji, listed some of the challenges facing the NUCFRLANMPE including outsourcing and casualisation of workers.

 Responding, Ajaero who was accompanied by his deputy, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, assured that the issues of outsourcing, casualisation or any other form of unfair labour practice, will be fought to a standstill in Nigeria.

He pleaded with affiliates to always inform the NLC headquartres, about their challenges.

According to him: “There is no way we can know if you as an affiliate fail to inform us.”  

Other Industrial Unions also visited include Steel and Engineering Workers Union of Nigeria, SEWUN,

National Union of Civil Engineering, Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, NUCCECFWW. 

National Union of Food Beverage and Tobacco Employees, NUFBTE, National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, Private Telecommunications and Communications Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PTECSSAN, National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers, NAAPE and National Union Air Transport  Employees, NUATE.

Today, the NLC leaders will visit National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, National Union of Shops and Distributive Employees, NUSDE, National Union of Banks, Insurance and Financial Employees, NUBIFIE and Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG.

They are also expected to visit some Media organisations tomorrow.

Before the new leadership was elected, among the endemic socio-economic challenges confronting the working class and other Nigerians have been  poor pay, harsh working conditions, casualisation, outsourcing, and other forms of indecent employment practices and anti-poor policies and practices by the government.

The new leadership has assured the Nigerian workers and masses, that it will not betray that trust, saying: “We are committed to resolutely pursuing the interests and desires of Nigerian workers and by extension, the majority of Nigerian masses. We, therefore, pledge our loyalty to the NLC, Nigerian workers, Nigerian masses, and Nigeria.

Giving the assurance, the President of NLC on behalf of the new leaders said: “We shall seek to reconnect more strongly to build greater solidarities with the people of Nigeria, rising once again to be the carriers of their desires and amplifiers of their voices. We shall not only speak for the 133 million Nigerians who are multi-dimensionally poor but shall also seek platforms to lift the shackles of poverty from the shoulders of our people. We shall once again be the true champions of the Nigerian people; crying their cries and jointly waging our wars against all forces of impoverishment and misery.

“The NLC will seek in conjunction with our social partners, including key national stakeholders, to build a nation that would be more inclusive in all its ramifications and fair to all Nigerians especially Nigerian workers. Ensuring therefore the reduction in Decent –Work deficits and the mainstreaming of the goals and outcomes of the SDGs will be a priority, including a drive for a more effective social inclusion framework with strong legal and institutional foundations.

“We would seek the resurrection of the review of the nation’s Labour Laws through the National Labour Advisory Council, NLAC which seems to have been deliberately stalled to ensure that all legal loopholes exploited by unscrupulous workplace partners to restrict the effort at making our workplaces more decent work-compliant, are blocked. To this end, we urge all employers of labour who have unsettled industrial relations issues with their workers and unions to immediately resolve them to avoid our intervention.

NLC shall continue in its tradition of ensuring that Nigerians are protected from all anti-people policies so that plunder in governance is reduced to the barest minimum while the government is assisted to work for the majority. We shall therefore robustly engage the government to stop the impunity and pervasive wickedness currently going on in the country in the name of Petroleum product pricing.

To this end, we shall work assiduously with our various affiliates and partners to strengthen our industrial unions. Our strength as a labour centre is built on the strength and capacities of our affiliates and with this understanding; we shall embark on deliberate campaigns to make our unions stronger and more viable. We call our affiliates to action today to initiate processes at rebuilding capacities so that together, we can serve Nigerian workers and masses better and deliver greater benefits to them all.

Ajaero acknowledged that “the challenges are many. We saw the challenges. We still sought your mandate. You gave it to us unflinchingly. We humbly accept this mandate. We accept to be your voice and your standard bearer lifting proudly our collective flags symbolising the crystallisation of years of historical struggles.

 and peoples. We renew our commitment to that pledge. We will not fail God. We will not fail Nigerian workers! We will not fail the NLC. We will not fail you and we will not fail the Nigerian masses.”