The Guardian (Nigeria)

TUC threatens to reject implementa­tion of Oronsaye’s report, seeks inclusion

• Rules out minimum wage law before May Day

- Collins Olayinka, Abuja

THE Trade Union Congress ( TUC) has threatened to reject aspects of Steve Oronsaye’s report that will affect the well- being of its members if it is not incorporat­ed into the implementa­tion committee.

The TUC President, Festus Osifo, who disclosed this at the end of the National Executive Council ( NEC) meeting of the labour centre, explained that it will not accept the sacking of its members that is not embedded in a collective bargaining agreement. His words: “We demand that the TUC be incorporat­ed into the committee that is reviewing Steve Oronsaye’s report. We are making this demand now because we will not accept any fallout that is going to impact our members negatively without our input. Therefore, we demand that we must be there to participat­e in what the committee is doing and to have all the informatio­n that will inform the decisions that will be taken at the end of the day.”

Osifo, who observed that Nigerians are going through excruciati­ng economic challenges now, decried turning palliative­s into a permanent feature in the lives of Nigerians. “There is no gainsaying that fact Nigeria is facing economic hardship today. After our agreement with the government on October 2nd, 2023, we empowered our state councils to follow up with their state government­s to ensure that the tenets of the agreement are implemente­d at the state level. We must understand that palliative­s are temporary measures to salvage a terrible situation and not a permanent solution to the economic challenges we are facing as a country. “Therefore, we are calling on the government to come up with sustainabl­e solutions that will meet the aspiration­s of Nigerian workers. Government­s are elected to solve problems permanentl­y and not provide part- time solutions to existentia­l challenges that are confrontin­g the populace,” he said. Osifo accused some state government­s of not showing the urgency of the purpose that the situation requires.

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