The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has congratulated Nigerians for their bravery, resilience, and loyalty to the country despite the economic challenges the country faced in 2019.
TUC’s President, Mr Quadri Olaleye, gave kudos to Nigerians on Tuesday in a statement as part of his new year goodwill message.
“Evaluating critically the organized labour’s activities in the last year, you will agree with us that it has been a rough path.
“There were many industrial issues but we swallowed many bitter pills to save our ailing economy.
“Foremost among other issues were minimum wage and its consequential adjustment; unbridled sack of workers without redundancy negotiation; breach of the collective agreement; casualization, among others, ” he said.
The labour leader urged the government to diversify the economy, reduce the cost of running the government and execute projects that would impact positively on the people.
He commended states that had commenced the payment of the new minimum wage, saying it would serve as a motivation to the workers.
“We, therefore, call on governors that are yet to start paying to do so without delay.
“In as much as we do not want to disrupt economic activities, we will still not compromise the welfare of our members,” he said.
Olaleye also urged the government to create jobs and address the issue of insecurity.
According to him, many lives have been lost due to insecurity.
“The root cause of insecurity is joblessness; over 90 per cent of those who are gainfully employed have no time for criminal activities.
“There are factors that encourage investment: security and obedience to the Rule of Law are part of them.
“Beyond that, the government must create an enabling environment so that micro-economic activities can take place.
“Even in civilized economies, the informal sector is not undermined because of its substantial contribution to economic activities.
“We must adopt these global best practices to save the country from her economic woes; and also secure the lives and properties of innocent citizens, ” Olaleye said.
