Details of TUC meeting with labour ministers

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has revealed the content of its last meeting with the Federal Government through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Simon Lalong and Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Honourable Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, in Abuja.

Worried that some section of the media quoted him out of context in their news publication, TUC President, Comrade Festus Osifo, told Nigerian Tribune that TUC expressed displeasure over Federal Government’s delay in implementing the promises of providing palliatives to workers.

He explained that the minister urged TUC to give the Federal Government additional two weeks to conclude on its arrangements for the palliatives but TUC refused and rather gave the government one week.

He said, “We put the issues forward and told the minister that we are tired of rhetoric and that all we want is action; that we want a definite pronouncement from the president. We said that some things are quick wins. Part of those quick wins are wage award, freezing of taxation for low income earners because if you say you want to distribute money to people and you don’t have social register it will be a futile venture.

“For the low income earner (between N30,000 and N80,000), you can exempt them from tax and that will serve as palliative partially. And for those in private sector employment, you can give them tax holiday for two, three or four years.

“When you do that, the money they will pay for tax will directly come to them. This way, you have 100 percent accountability without having monies misdirected or misappropriated. So these were the quick wins we put forward.

“We also went further to make a case for transportation. We said that some federal workers today come to work from far distances. You can image someone whose monthly earning is 60, 70 or 80 thousand naira per month coming from far neighbourhoods to work. They will spend nothing less than 80 percent of their earnings on transportation going and coming to work. We also asked of the 3,000 buses government said it was bringing in to reduce high cost of transportation, how many are you dedicating to federal workers and to the downtrodden who cannot afford transportation.

“We also asked questions about the N70 billion pronouncement made by President Tinubu earlier for MSMEs. We have not heard anything about it since the pronouncement. We asked where people can apply for it. For a hairdresser or other MSMEs that want to apply for the loan, where do they apply for it? We said we want clarification. We also asked about the status of the CNG buses that was promised.

“The minister told us that after the earlier meeting we had, he had an engagement with the president and he asked them to put some basic things in place, however, they couldn’t conclude before the president travelled but that himself and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy have been working assiduously and that when the president comes back, there will be a pronouncement.

“The minister also appealed that we should give them two weeks for all these to be concluded but we told them that two weeks was too long. That we have been engaged in endless meetings and rhetorics, that what we want is action. And that the pronouncement the president will make should not exceed two weeks.”

 

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