The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria says the country has been in a state of war for decades and must significantly increase its security budget to tackle insecurity.
The labour centre made the call at its National Administrative Council meeting in Abuja, where it also mourned gallant officers of the Nigerian Air Force who paid the supreme price in the line of duty.
In a strong warning to the Federal Government, has threatened a shutdown over the government’s failure to implement agreements reached with the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU.
The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria began by honouring officers of the Nigerian Air Force and 37 miners killed in Niger State, as it pushed for a comprehensive investigation into the deaths of the miners.
On the spate of insecurity, organised labour says it has become a war that demands a war budget, hence the call for a significant increase in security allocation.
Labour’s anger was not limited to insecurity, as it expressed shock that none of the resolutions reached with the Minister of Health on the JOHESU crisis had been implemented.
It frowned upon the fact that the communiqué had not been honoured and is now threatening a solidarity strike that could cripple sectors of the economy.
On the economy, the TUC says that while macroeconomic indicators are improving and inflation is moderating, the impact is yet to reach the average worker, and that the government and employers need not wait for minimum wage negotiations to increase workers’ salaries.
Labour argues that the Central Bank’s foreign exchange policy is progressive but believes that, with a little more effort, exchange rates could drop to between 600 and 800 naira to a dollar, which would bring down the skyrocketing cost of goods and services.
Ahead of 2027, the trade union challenged the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that the electoral process is free and fair to all.
The labour centre further reiterated its backing for the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria in its position against the concession of King’s College, Lagos, saying national heritage institutions should be preserved, while also calling for the revival of the manufacturing sector to make it work again.
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Editor: Ada Ononye
(Follow AIT News on WhatsApp, AfricaIndependentTV on YouTube, ait_online on Facebook and X (Formerly Twitter), and officialait on TikTok, Instagram and Threads)
Editor: Ada Ononye
