Respect Collective Bargaining Agreements with Unions – NLC tells FG

The Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, has urged the Federal Government to respect the Collective Bargaining Agreements entered into with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and other unions in the tertiary institutions in the country.
The NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba,  also lamented that the majority of the affected students in the ongoing strike embarked upon by the four university-based unions are children from poor homes whose parents cannot afford to pay the outrageous fees charged by private universities.
The labour movement also demanded that the government ensure the swift and safe return of all abductees in the Abuja-Kaduna bound train attack and also payment of compensation for all those killed and injured in the attack.
According to him, millions of Nigerian university students, especially those attending public citadels of higher learning, celebrated Easter outside the precincts of their campuses.
Mr Wabba therefore, added “we demand respect for Collective Bargaining Agreements signed with unions in our tertiary institutions and other sectors “.
The NLC president also noted that, The labour centre frowned on the inability of some state governments to pay the new minimum wage after about four years it was passed into law many workers in Nigeria are yet to enjoy the national minimum wage almost four years after it was signed into law, noting that Cross River, Taraba and Zamfara are the states yet to implement the national minimum wage.
Nigerian pensioners are not spared as many of them are denied their gratuity and pension arrears. Tragically, while wages remain the same and sometimes are unpaid, the cost of living keeps skyrocketing. Inflation has eroded the purchasing power of workers as the Naira continues to lose its value.
“We must stress that all workers including military, police, and para-military deserve decent wages and pension,” NLC stated.
Continuing, it said:  ”We demand that the government must ensure the swift and safe return of all abductees. We also demand compensation for all those killed and injured in the attack.
Millions of Nigerian university students, especially those attending public citadels of higher learning, are celebrating Easter outside the precincts of their campuses not by reason of choice but because our country cut short their hopes.
The inability of the government to deliver on commitments it reached with our university workers both academic and non-academic has ensured that the streak of instability battering and buffeting our tertiary education system remains unresolved.
It is even more tragic that the majority of the affected students are children from poor homes whose parents cannot afford to pay the outrageous fees charged by private universities.
Tragically, while students from poor homes are held back by frustrating cycles of strike actions, the children of the rich and powerful are in private campuses learning. There is no sadder premiere of the Social Apartheid in our society than the intermittent and protracted strike actions in our public universities.
It is salutary that amid these very challenging and depressing conditions, Nigerian workers continue to show faith in their country and demonstrate the never dying hope for a better tomorrow. This is the reason we still turn up at our duty posts, despite being owed arrears of salaries.