The Vice President IndustriALL Global Union has called on Governor Nasir el-Rufai to “reconsider and withdraw” the planned mass sack of thousands of Kaduna state civil servants and engage with workers’ unions on the state’s development.
According to Comrade Issa Aremu, IndustriALL Global Union headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland represents 50 million workers in 140 countries in the mining, energy and manufacturing sectors, offers global solidarity for better working conditions and trade union rights around the world.
Addressing the media on the sideline of Iftar Ramadan breakfast hosted by him in Kaduna on Sunday, Comrade Aremu said “at times of Covid-19 pandemic, rising official unemployment of 33%, 18% inflation and open unemployment of 50% and footloose criminality and banditry, the minimum responsibility of all elected governments is “jobs retention, mass job creation not engaging in unhelpful massive layoffs”.
The Kaduna state government had reportedly laid off and turned some thousands of workers into casual workers across the local councils citing “the dwindling finances and high wage bill of the state”. The state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had kicked against the ‘mass sack’ of workers, while the National Executive Council (NEC) of NLC announced mass action against the controversial decision rising from its meeting at the weekend in Abuja.
Comrade Aremu said the proposed actions of organized labour against the mass sack by government of Kaduna state “is timely and legitimate”. He called on both Ministers of Labour, Chris Igige and Minister of state Festus Keyamo “to bring their wealth of experience to avert another round of labour lockdown in Kaduna state” through social dialogue between state government and labour.
Comrade Aremu who was also two term former Vice President of NLC described as “least, lazy governance act of shifting the burden of dwindling revenue on workers through layoffs”. He said it was time governors diversified the states’ economies through “government -private sector partnerships for massive industrialization and varying labour absorption strategies”.