2025 could be a strike free year if… —TUC Deputy President

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) 1st National Deputy President, Dr Tommy Etim-Okon, in this interview with CHRISTIAN APPOLOS, spoke about factors that could make year 2025 a strike free year. He also hinted on why workers and Nigerians at large find it difficult to buy-in into government policies.

How would you describe year 2024 as for as Labour is concerned?

Government inflicted the Nigerian masses with the harshest economic policies. And unfortunately, the policies were not properly communicated, and they ended up putting the masses in a state of quagmire. Notably is when Mr. President announced that the subsidy is gone. The masses and workers were not prepared. The pronouncement puts everyone and everything in disarray.

What then should the government do differently to prevent 2025 being worse than 2024?

Government should understand and invest heavily in effective communication. With the tax reform bill that is before the National Assembly now, government officials have begun to shift their usual style to engaging the masses, civil society organisations and even the National Assembly members. It is a sign that the government is seriously learning to communicate its policies.

One thing is, you may have a very good policy, but when you lack the requisite communication skills to make the people understand and buy-in into your policy, it becomes a bad policy. Looking at it from that perspective, if this kind of engagement continues with other government policies that will come up, I think the government would have played the required role of informing and helping the masses to understand the direction of its policies. This singular act will make it very easy for the media to further educate and help the government to achieve the desired outcome.

When the government adopts that method, the populace will have a deep knowledge of what is coming. Because for a policy to achieve the desired outcome, you must design a strategy to communicate that policy effectively. The people must understand it and also play a critical role in its formation.

Some government policies today look punitive because the government plays the role of felt need instead of action need. In development communication, felt need is counterproductive because you are thinking for the people. But when you apply action-need, you involve the people, and the buy-in will be at ease. For instance, when this tax bill was initiated, if the masses in different segments were communicated, the way they are doing now, all the tensions wouldn’t have aroused.

So the same thing goes for any other policies of the government. You must be able to look at your targets, communicate the policy to your target, and get their buy-in before you push it down to the people. Once that is done, you have already created an opportunity for people to be informed, buy-in, and acceptability will be such that you have a little role to play in marketing the policy.

Apart from effective communication of policies, what else should drive government policies?

Every government policy and the processes of making it cannot be the same but policies must be tailored towards solving the needs of the people. However, those who the policies shall directly affect, must be carried along. For the mere fact that the elites have the dominant role does not also foreclose the fact that the targeting audience must have an input. It is key.

During the national minimum wage negotiation committee, a lot of people from the private sector talked about multiple taxation and how it kills the nano companies and small and medium enterprises. That may have been why the government came up with this tax reform bill to unify these taxes to encourage productivity and healthy competitiveness. But until this message is passed accurately and effectively, even those in the small and medium industry will not understand.

A message may come from an opinion leader that the government wants to bring more tax in order to kill you people and everybody will believe it. So for you to bring in a policy that you feel will support the welfare of the people, why not let the people understand it.

Another instance is the policy on CNG. A lot of people don’t even know the meaning of CNG. Also the fuel subsidy policy, a lot of people didn’t understand till today. The same as the floating of naira. A lot of people don’t understand anything about it. If this were effectively communicated, many Nigerians would have understood that the situation will be tough for a certain period and probably developed a survival strategy.

Are you saying that the current tax reform bill and other policies of Tinubu suffered because the government failed to effectively communicate the most important aspect of the policies to the citizens?

Exactly. There was poor communication on the side of the government. Because effective communication will set an agenda. Will tell you, in one year’s time, this is what you will start to see. And a lot of people will have something at the back of their mind.

Every segment of the society has leaders. There are civil society organisations, trade unions, faith based organisations, traditional rulers, student unions, women organisations and so on.

During the  MAMSER programme, the government came up with a policy of rural development. MAMSER was the tool through which the government communicated the programs effectively to the citizens and it was well done.. That was how everybody came to know Professor Jerry Gana.Ghana. A byline can sell your policy.

Even though it is a fact that a good policy can sell itself. But even at that, that policy still needs a market force to drive it. You need to communicate it. Otherwise, there wouldn’t have been any point for Coca-Cola to keep advertising. But they keep advertising because they want to sustain the tempo in the market.

This is what Mr. President’s team should know. If you look at the way they are communicating this tax bill now, they have just been working and the bill would likely sell well. Because it is now that people start learning about the good intention of this tax reform.

Let’s talk about the 2024 new minimum wage. Where is the issue of minimum wage at the moment?

The main meat in the minimum wage is consequential adjustment. This is because it takes care of grade level and steps. You and I can be in the same grade level, but we are not in the same step. It is down the step that makes you earn more than me. That is why it is somehow laughable when you hear some State governors announce that they will pay 80,000, 72,000 and what have you. Those announcements have their issues because some of those governors will end up not adhering to the rule of consequential adjustment.

Normally, as the government pegged minimum wage at 70,000 minimum, the main thing those governors would have done is to give a good percentage to their workers in the consequential adjustment. That way, the grade levels and  steps differential, will boost workers’ minimum take home,

Here in the Federal, that has been settled. A circular to that effect, the template was released. I am meant to understand that some agencies started drawing in September.  I also know that some States have already engaged the joint public service negotiating committee. Also, some states are cognizant of the fact that the system has an element of corruption. So they are carrying out verification to ascertain the strength of their workforce and amount of money they will be spending monthly in terms of salary and wages. However, we will really know the true situation in some States in 2025.

What should the government at all levels understand about workers’ welfare and wages, and why they should be prioritised?

It is unfortunate that a lot of State governments believe that they are doing workers a favour by paying them. Some are even saying that workers are not productive. But I guess that those who found themselves saying this do not understand that the policies of the government are being driven by the civil servants. They don’t understand that if the civil servant wants to be naughty, and they removed leg, that politicians will make a serious blunder. Where some State governors, let me say, are confused is that a lot of them engage the services of political offsprings. PAs, SAs and different kinds of people in different capacities in quantum and they are all drawing from the government purse. Unfortunately, many of them are not productive. In fact, most of them are psychopaths. If you have 350 SAs and PAs, how do you measure their productivity?

Whatever jobs you want them to carry out are still being carried out by the civil servants. Most of them cannot even write a full sentence. They don’t even understand the subject and predicate. Sometimes they engage other people who write and send to them, but they are the people that will be making the loudest noise.

The importance of workers welfare and wages can never be over-emphasized. Some State governments still believe that the issue of wages should come under concurrent lists so that they can manipulate the payment of workers’ wages.  That is why, even when labour matters are in exclusive legislation, they are still finding a way to make it look concurrent. During the minimum wage negotiation, their agitation was so high that even when we agreed to 70,000, some still said they would not be able to pay.

That shows you that they don’t even know how to value workers. They don’t understand that where much is given, much is also expected. And a lot of them think that if you say you are paying 75,000 minimum wage, that that 75,000 is across the board. So you can just add 5000 but that is not it. This is because adding 5000 is not the same as consequential adjustment.

The essence of consequential adjustment is to bridge the gap, and to put it in proper perspective, the earning of workers. Because it involves looking at the grade levels and steps. Somebody can be in grade level 12 but step two, another grade level 12, step 3, and so on. These individuals, even at the same level, cannot earn the same amount. As the grade levels and steps progresses, that is how you earn. That is the importance of the consequential adjustment. You cannot say because you are paying 80,000, you will now start adding 10,000 across the board. It’s not done like that. It has to be graded according to levels and steps. That’s why the template is very important.

So the state governments should take a cue from the Federal government and some other states that are doing the right thing. Let me say this with all sense of responsibility. If the workers are happy, government policies will be driven without mixed feelings, and they can sell a policy very easily. That is what some governments fail to understand.

For instance, a state that wants to generate revenue, it is even the civil servant that will help you to drive it, even when you bring a consultant, the consultant needs to work with the civil servants. If you like, graduate from Harvard, but the moment you join the service, a messenger can show you what you don’t know, because they have passed through a route learning you are coming from an academic background. It’s not paperwork.

In other words you’re saying that a good welfare package for workers is key to any government succeeding?

Yes. A well paid workforce is a productive force for policy implementation and success.

Who kills  the government policies the most? The politicians make political pronouncements, who carries it out? It is the civil servant. And when they are indifferent about your policy, they frustrate it. So it’s important that both federal and state governments prioritize the wages and welfare of the civil servants. In fact, even in a family. A happy family is a family that the father cares for. Your father is paying your school fees, taking care of you, and he will send you a message and you say you won’t go?  When the government puts the well being of the workers and citizens on the priority list, everything works, there won’t be strike action.

I’m leaving my office and going to my house. There is a transportation system that takes me and drops me closeby. What business do I have to go and own a car? When you get to your house, the light is working. In fact, you will pay the bills without even looking back. But not a situation where nothing works. I pay for goods and services without getting the dividends, how am I supposed to carry the implementation of government policies on my head?

Let’s talk about industrial crisis in the labour sector. Whose responsibility is it to ensure a strike free 2025 and what actions should whoever it is take?

When it comes to issues of workers, welfare, industrial relations, trade unions,  the Ministry of Labour is to be held responsible. The Ministry of Labour in developed countries is one of the top-ranked ministries. The reason being that whenever there is industrial crisis or strike, the amount of manpower loss, vis a vis the financial implication is enormous. If you allow it for one week, it can ground the entire economy. I don’t know whether the government understands it, or they pretend not to. That is why, whenever there are any industrial issues, those involved must write to the Labour Ministry. And whatever responses come from the Ministry of Labor, even the courts cannot throw it away, because that is a statutory body empowered legally to handle labour matters.

I am happy that we recently participated in the validation of the industrial relation policy, the first of its kind. The policy is going to reshape our industrial relations strategy.

I pray the Labour Bill that has been obsolete since 2005 that will be sent to the 10th Assembly, is urgently worked on and sent to Mr. President to assent. If we add that to the industrial relations policy, a lot of unfair labour practices will be checked, and brought to an end. We could have a strike free 2025.

It is the role of the  Ministry of Labour to alert the government that you have signed this agreement. You said you pay from this time, this is the effective date, now that this date is approaching, there is a need to call these people again for a meeting to extend or carry out implementation. Such practices alone could nip an industrial crisis in the bud.

When there’s a collective bargaining agreement, it is a twofold thing. When the unions play their part, it is also expected that the government should uphold its own end. But when you now allow it to linger, and you feel that nothing will happen, that is where the issue of strike comes.

Nigeria can run an economy without strike. Do you know why? Social Dialogue can be made continuous. When the government takes the issue of industrial peace and crisis seriously, those agreements signed with trade unions will be given serious attention. When that happens, the government would be able to say when it can or cannot meet up with an agreement signed. When it can handle certain issues and otherwise as the case may be. When the government gives genuine reason, the trade unions will understand and we can run the economy without strike. But the government and those in the Ministry of Labour must take cognizance of the critical role the Ministry plays for industrial peace and harmony to thrive.

The Ministry of Labour tops the list, however, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Ministry of Finance, is also  very important in reaching an agreement because it involves money. So that tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning or the SGF will not say they didn’t know.

Proactive measures should be taken by the Ministry of Labour, That is why they are there. They are the custodian of industrial relations in the country. That is why labour matters are under exclusive legislation, meaning that no State has the powers to legislate on labour matters.

So the Minister of Labour must be proactive in the terms of monitoring through the  Department Trade Union Services and Industrial Relations. The department is the monitoring unit that has the power monitor and then perceive industrial crisis.

Through the Ministry of Labour, the government must also be intentional in ensuring that fair labour practices are maintained in the country. The Labour Ministry must reinvent itself and take its rightful place as a priority Ministry. It must be on its toe to drive healthy industrial relations and labour practices in the country.

So to ensure we run a strike free economy as we go into 2025, the Minister of Labour must ensure that industrial relations matters are taken seriously. The Minister must intervene in labour matters before they snowball into crisis…must be intentional in tackling unfair labour practices and treatments.

The Ministry of Labour, being a very important ministry, should take up a responsibility to ensure industrial peace and harmony in the country, to ensure that collective bargaining agreements consciously entered are obeyed, and ensure that there’s a conducive environment for industrial harmony to thrive. Because no nation can thrive amidst an industrial crisis.

What role should the Mr. President play in this?

The onus lies with the Ministry of Labour, and the entirety of the Labour Ministry. Mr. President cannot be everywhere. That’s why he has ministers. It is left for the Minister to come out with a blueprint of how he wants to deliver in line with Mr. President’s policy direction as it affects industrial harmony.

Bearing all of these in mind, how should trade unions conduct themselves to avoid embarking on unnecessary industrial action?

Trade unions are partners in progress with the government. It is an erroneous impression for anyone to think that trade unions are antagonizers. Or enemy of the government. We are partners in progress truly and we seek that the government should discuss with us mutually, regularly.

A lot of people look at labour matters from one side. Labour matters are not all about legality. It has a moral component. The issue is that the government and its agencies sometimes act so recalcitrant to the rule of engagement and the Constitution itself. And we say, no. There is no trade union that will wake up and decide to act against the law in the name of industrial action

The issue is that we want the government to talk with us instead of talking to us. Talking to us is; whatever you want to do, do, but when you talk with us, that is social dialogue. We are robbing mind. So social dialogue is key to industrial harmony, productivity, economic growth, smooth implementation of government policies. Even the ILO endorsed social dialogue as key.

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