· What I’m proposing is for labour unions to move away from being reactive to being proactive and this does not mean that there won’t be need for strikes when necessary. I will like to see a situation where labour unions work with the Legislature such that even work places where there are no unions do not subject their workers to slavery and this must involve things like a definition of working hours and provision of good working environment through legislatures such as safety in work place. I was at the Lagos state Government secretariat in Alausa recently and it’s so obvious that if there is any fire outbreak, there can only be few survivors with the classroom type architecture and unsafe burglary proof and it is worse in many other states and local governments.

· In places where unions have not been stifled, they should make a conscious effort to work closely with Management before things deteriorate and not wait until those institutions become completely worthless and inefficient like PHCN, NITEL and the Refineries all because they are getting their own sidekicks. They should realise that such things do not last as we have seen with NITEL and in the end it is the workers that will lose out especially since they usually lack relevant skills.

· The issue of remuneration in public service needs to be addressed proactively as the present level of remuneration can only attract mediocre and it is so bad that most Nigerians workers are also business men/women doing everything that can bring in extra cash. Getting the NLC and TUC represented in the Revenue Mobilization Committee (RMFAC) should help so that when salaries of political holders are increased to obscene levels, they can remind them of civil servants. If you pay someone 10,000 Naira a month, then you should be very afraid if he/she comes to work everyday because he/she is definitely not doing it for the 10,000 Naira. A look at the salary structure of Civil Servants will explain why we don’t get anything from Government. Civil Servants work in poor conditions yet live large because they and the politicians have stolen all the money. I wasn’t surprised at all when I visited Eti-Osa local Government on Muri-Okunola, Victoria Island recently and I met Civil servants with offices out in the open using classroom style furniture and they were busy writing all sorts of receipts and it is not hard to connect their flashy cars with those receipts.

· Remuneration is one area where Labour unions have got it horribly wrong over the years and it seems they have forgotten that what we need are lower cost of living and higher purchasing power and not just higher salaries. Unions should work with government to bring down the components of living cost such as providing cheap and efficient infrastructure, good public schools and hospitals, investment in agriculture, access to housing and improving the manufacturing base of the country amongst other things. NLC probably needs to understand that higher salaries do not necessarily translate to better welfare for workers. The issue of pensions and gratuities need to be addressed seriously at all levels so that people can retire comfortably and create the vacuum that their children are desperately yearning for.

· Another area that Labour unions need to evaluate objectively is the constant friction between Management of multinationals and the unions in such companies. The unions have always accused the multinationals of racism in their operations and have always pointed to the nationalities of those in the management team as a convenient excuse but is it not rather curious that many Nigerian companies set up by Nigerians such as Globacom, Dangote, Arik Air and Bi-Courtney have hired these same expatriates to manage their companies and are recording success without Union issues. Unions in multinationals have always complained about expatriates taking over their jobs and it is important for unions to de-mystify this expatriate quota issues and expose civil servants and Government officials who have compromised the process.

· Labour unions also have to partner with the Government on skills acquisition for Nigeria. It is shameful that a nation of 140 million people have to send its officials outside the country to beg expatriates to come and teach us things as basic as farming, fire-fighting, waste clearing, road construction, traffic control, apprehending criminals, sorting of fake ballot papers and other West African citizens are even taking the jobs of our poorly trained artisans. All these have come about because our institutions have failed woefully and Nigerians have stopped acquiring skills but chasing money. All hope is not lost however as we have seen Nigerians become expatriates in fields like Telecoms in other African countries based on the skills they learnt in less than 5 years of GSM experience. That is what skills acquisition does to you, you may be green in colour and have black spots but once you skills are sought after, there will be a way out for you. I’m sure we can make a difference in other areas even in the high-tech oil exploitation industry if we set our mind to do it and it is shameful to see all sorts expatriates flood into Nigeria to do jobs that our Nigerian youths desperately crave for and which we have not been able to learn in 50 years of Independence.

· It is also important to note that many Nigerian companies do not have a workplace safety policy neither do they take a tough stand against issues like harassment and bullying in the office place. It is shameful to see Nigerian Construction workers being ferried across different cities in containers and yet we have Labour unions. Some companies including Government offices don’t even have a decent toilet or office space. These issues need to be brought to the front burner and addressed through adequate legislations.

· I believe that Labour unions should not just concentrate on cheap issues of salary hike alone but take a holistic view of workers’ welfare and pressure this Government to address these issues. I’m not sure that we will have a better time to address some of these issues than with the current weak tenant in Aso-Rock. If some people are forcing him to look away on some issues, then unions should force him to look at issues that concern them. The unions have recorded some success already especially with the pressure they put on Government till they had representation on the deregulation committee (we are still waiting to see if their membership will make a difference or they will be settled). We also have a Comrade Governor who should be able to offer some advice now that he sees both sides.

I hope that NLC will pursue some of these issues with Legislative support and let’s see if our Legislators do not think that we deserve adequate welfare at work. This is also a good way to prevent unnecessary fights when the relevant issues are covered by adequate legislation.

Olatunji Jacobs wrote in from Lagos.

Robot  # 1 | 27.04.2009 23:16

I hope that NLC will pursue some of these issues with Legislative support and let’s see if our Legislators do not think that we deserve adequate welfare at work. This is also a good way to prevent unnecessary fights when the relevant issues are covered by adequate legislation....Read the full article.