Labour

Labour to get tough on banks

Published

9 years ago

May 1, 2017

By Chioma Obinagwam

The United Labour Congress (ULC) has warned that it would get tough on banks that are in the habit of enslaving Nigerian workers.

National President of the ULC, Comrade Joe Ajero, made this warning during a pre-may day symposium held in Lagos on Saturday.

He said: “We learnt about the issues and challenges of Nigerian workers in Arik. We have visited Arik and the AMCON led management and they are beginning to reschedule. We have visited ZTE and some other private telecommunications and they are beginning to reschedule.”

“We are going to move to the Oil and Gas sector as well as the banks. The banks should be ready; I repeat, the banks should be ready, especially, those employers those employers that have enslaved Nigerian workers,” he stressed.

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Ajero, however, frowned at the National Assembly and state governors clamouring to include minimum wage in the concurrent list; adding that it would jeopardize the welfare of Nigerian workers.

The concurrent list is where powers are shared jointly by both the central and regional or state governments as stipulated by the constitution.

Also, the professor of Industrial Relations and Programmes Coordinator, Trade Union, Labour Studies and Human Rights Education Centre at Ibadan, Oyo State, Funmi Adewunmi also called for the rejuvenation of Industrial development finance institutions and to be made to deliver on their original mandates.

“NIDB, NACB, NBCI or by whatever names that they are called today which is, among others, to provide the necessary financial back up to drive the industrialisation process. They should provide loans for genuine industrialists and entrepreneurs at low interest rates,” She advised.

Adewunmi added that a monitoring committee made up of stake holders should be constituted to ensure that it is only genuine investors, across sectors, should be beneficiaries, if Nigeria must thread the path of sustainable economic growth and development.