The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has asked the federal government to respect the collective bargaining agreements signed with labour unions in the country’s tertiary institutions and other sectors.
The congress national president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in an Easter massage, also demanded full implementation of minimum wage across states which are yet to implement the policy and immediate clearing of owed pension arrears of retirees.
Other demands the congress put forward in the message included employers should deliver on prompt salary payment, periodic salary increment, promotion, regular training, access to social housing, affordable healthcare, paid vacation cum sick leave and compensation for injury at work.
Comrade Wabba said, “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 remain unresolved.
“It is even most tragic that 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.”
The congress also pledged to continue to deploy labour standards to fight for and defend the rights and interests of Nigerian workers, insisting that all workers must be politically consciousness and participate actively in politics come 2023 in support of candidates and parties that subscribe to its unveiled Charter of Demands.