Organised Labour in coma as govt tramples on workers’ rights

Sometime in October last year, a 70-year-old retiree slumped at the MCC Road junction in Owerri.

He was lucky as passers-by rushed to resuscitate him, while after recovering a bit, he narrated his ordeals in the hands of the government he served in his prime.

“Government work, I no fit,” a young man, who was among the rescue team, voiced out.

Elsewhere, in a middlebelt state, pension arrears are not the issues, but to even pay the initial N30,000 minimum wage, as claims to pay the N70,000 new wage are on paper, for many civil servants in the state.

According to some observers, the more worrisome for many Nigerians today is the escalating cost of living crisis, especially the increasing food inflation and high cost of transportation, which has left many families poorer and hungry.

As well, on May 29, 2023, a serious challenge was thrown at the organised labour when the NNPC hiked the fuel pump price from N198 per litre to N617, a staggering 45 percent increase. Then, many thought that the country was going to be shut down by the labour unions in a few days if the government did not reverse the hike.

Some families were stocking up their food supplies, fearing that the impending strike by the organised labour would go as planned, unless the government shifted ground.

But none of such happened as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) could not muster enough courage to hold the government until the NNPC reversed the hike.

Instead, Nigerians witnessed a seemingly worst era of hike in fuel pump prices.

From N198 per litre, the black gold kept rising; N617 to N898 to N1,030 on October 9, 2024 before the price slash by the Dangote Refinery that brought a bit of stability.

Read also: Organised labour in Abia complied with national strike

But in all these, many concerned citizens questioned the relevance of the organised labour when people’s welfare, and most importantly life and security, do not matter again to those in power.

The general view during the incessant fuel pump price increment of 2024 was that the organised labour was compromised and cannot fight on the people’s side again. For many, that seemed true as both the NLC and TUC looked caged under the influence of Aso Rock.

“My father told me how the Nigerian Labour Congress joined the coalition of other pressure groups like NADECO to wrestle power from the military in the 80s, 90s and eventually restored democracy in 1999.

“But I don’t think it is the same labour that we have today because the strong NLC that dared the military regimes cannot challenge fellow civilians in Aso Rock. Something is wrong and I think the leadership of NLC is highly compromised,” Tunde Labinjo, a lawyer, said.

Labinjo, an Apapa, Lagos-based commercial lawyer, decried that today, the “organised” labour is simply seeking selfish interests and not the welfare of the general public.

“Do you know how many threats of industrial actions in the last two years by NLC and how many of them that materialised? I cannot recall any strike that lasted well-enough to make the government shift ground for the people’s welfare in this administration,” he noted.

Toeing the same line, Patrick Odikanwa, a university don, decried that the way the leadership of the NLC and sister unions chicken out easily on serious matters or at negotiation tables makes one to rethink membership of the unions because dues are deducted from workers salaries for the unions.

“For me, ASUU seems stronger in negotiations than the NLC and TUC. You know the kind of people in power, who brag about their electoral victories with or without your votes, and you go to the negotiation table on a compromised stand.

“It is either you do this or workers will sit at home, period. See where compromise has landed the organised labour today. The government tricked them on the new minimum wage by agreeing not to increase fuel price. But, the agreement was not honoured and the leadership of the organised labour could not stage another strike because it was compromised.

“I don’t think labour even believe in itself, then talk of the impoverished Nigerian workers, who are always at the receiving end. Sadly, this is what the government of the day wants, no challenge or opposition to its policies,” the associate professor said.

In his views, Himal Idrisu, an investment banker, thinks that the quality of the leadership by the organised labour is a reflection of the decadence in the wider society and also guided by the kind of leader in Aso Rock today.

“We heard about the glorious days of NLC, when my father and his colleagues will join the night bus for rallies in Lagos, Port Harcourt and later Abuja.

“They held the government of the day to account and some also sacrificed their lives and even jobs doing so.

“But I cannot take such a risk today because my family will suffer if something happens to me. So, the crop of fellows we have at NLC and TUC are taking care of themselves. People fight dirty to become union leaders even at local government and state levels because of the perceived benefits.

“As long as people go into labour union leadership with selfish interests, the unions will achieve less for the average Nigerian worker,” he said.

The London-trained financial expert noted that Nigerians need an efficient organised labour for respite in the current economic hardship as politicians and corrupt officials do not feel the heat.

“Despite my plum job and investments, I feel the huge impact of the economic hardship. What about my cousins in Kano and Dutse, whose salaries, even if it is N100,000 minimum wage, cannot afford basic needs?

“The NLC is sleeping and should wake up because the tax bills have been passed into law and more cuts from salaries are coming,” Idrisu said.

While many think that today’s organised labour is weak and compromised, some say that it has done what past leaders of the unions could not do.

“Remember that our current president is a fighter, he was part of NADECO that wrestled power from the military, he campaigned for workers welfare and encouraged people to stand up to the government on anti-masses policies.

“For me, the organised labour put up a good fight with the president to get the N70,000 minimum wage. I applaud them for that,” Mutiu Adetona, an assistant director in Ogun State Civil Service, said.

Adetona, who said that he is not singing the praises of President Bola Tinubu, asked which past government administration has more than doubled wages for workers?

“In my opinion, as much as people say the NLC is weak, it has achieved the most with the new minimum wage,” he noted.

But that achievement, according to Idrisu, is punctured because of the hike in taxes afterwards, increase in fuel pump price and the inflation that is even hitting harder after the new minimum wage approval, which many states are yet to implement.

For those that still look up to the organised labour, Odikanwa thinks there is no need, considering how the NLC seems to have been gagged in the past two years.

“Our labour leaders have lost the potency to galvanise we members for nationwide protests again.

“Whether against the government’s impunity, rip off by banks, poor services by our electricity distribution companies or for stifling laws and policies, it will be hard to get members to protest because they keep losing out to the government. We need a firm NLC, especially now that the government cares less about our welfare, but high taxes, tolls, new levies and more tariffs,” the professor concluded.