LAGOS - This year May Day for the United Labour Congress was significant. Thousands of the ULC members gathered under the Bridge at Ojuelagba on May 1st International Workers Day to demand for 96000 Naira new minimum wage.
At the rally point, a lot of the workers expresses dissatisfaction over the 18000 stipend many state governors have refused to pay for the past eight months.
At the rally point, a lot of the workers expresses dissatisfaction over the 18000 stipend many state governors have refused to pay for the past eight months.
The workers in their thousands marched from Ojuelagba to the National Stadium with placards, banners from different affiliate while chanting solidarity songs. There was huge solidarity support from a lot of people at Ojuelagba. For the two and thirty minutes before the kick off to the National Stadium, Surulere; bus drivers, market men and women, youth approached some of the socialists to collects the SPN leaflet.
While at the National Stadium, speeches were given by the labour leaders of ULC, calling on the Federal government to pay the put forward resolve demand of 96000 minimum wage. The Lagos Council Union leader of United Labour Congress in the person of Joe Ajaero said, we in the ULC arriving at this figure perfectly understand that inflation is on the rise. Virtually everything in the market is unacceptable for the poor. For a worker to survive on 18000 is very terrible. That the 96000 is irreversible.
Other Union leaders in the ULC Lagos Council like N. A Korodo in its speech spoke on total collapse of the Nigerian industry. That a lot of companies had gone down, some had relocated to neighbouring African countries because of the privatization of the power sector. Total reversal of the electricity privatization was also mentioned. The government must reverse the privatization of the power sector in order to revamp the economy into full industrialization.
In the light of this, the National Union of Railway workers also gave a brief speech on the failed policies of privatization. According to the speech, the railway is one big industry in the country that can turn around the transport sector. But since the government of Nigeria took the part of privatization, the railway corporation is in a state of ruin. The privatization policies has contributed massively into the epileptic nature of this great industry.
The speech also raised the fundamental fact that the labour unions have to unite in the cause of common struggle in order to achieve better welfare for workers especially the demand of a new minimum wage. For some of the workers socialists who participated in the ULC May Day rally, they expresses pain over the non payment of the 18000 minimum wage. In fact, going by the current rate of inflation, the 18000 is useless.
Socialists who engaged some of the workers especially while circulating the SPN leaflet, emphasized the fundamental need why a political struggle is inevitable to force the Buhari led APC government to pay the new minimum wage. That it is not enough to end everything in the lip of theory but to organize workers and equally call the poor masses out to support for a day of action against the rot of capitalism.
It is only through this means that the Buhari administration can be challenged and possibly chase the regime out from power with a profane socialist political mass alternative. To read more about the May Day event in other states the Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) participated. Visit the socialistnigeria.org. Also, for more stories on slum on the issues directly affecting people in our community. Kindly visit lifeinslum.blogspot.com
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Copyright @Fidel Davy
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