The National Union of Textile, Garment And Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN)has hailed the new diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba describing it as “a victory for Africa and progressive forces of the world”.
An end year message endorsed by Oladele Hunsu and Issa Aremu, President and general Secretary of the textile workers’ union said ,” We commend both President Barrack Obama of United States of America and Rauf Castro of Cuba for agreeing to end more than five decades of animosity and cold war between both countries and re-establish full diplomatic relations.
The new diplomatic relations between America and Cuba is a victory for Africa and progressive forces of “the world that have (canvassed ) and demanded for this era of new relations in the past decades. All African governments and trade unions such as NLC have always demanded for the lifting of trade embargo on Cuba. Cuba is a country that has sacrificed much in terms of humans and financial resources in spite of modest prosperity for the liberation of Angola, Namibia and South Africa from the clutches of colonialism and apartheid. The recent practical solidarity of Cuba with Africa is seen in the ongoing medical battle against Ebola in which Cuba has sent hundreds of doctors and medical personnel.
Delay In Salaries Is Wage Theft
The union decried the delay of workers’ salaries which it called wage theft.”We also condemn in strong terms the nonpayment of salaries in some States by some state governors especially Benue State. Delayed payment of salaries is wage theft. It is an economic crime. These are the same politicians who duly paid all their delegates for their political parties Conventions, yet find it difficult to pay the legitimate earnings of workers as and when due.
The leaders said “We are optimistic that Nigeria must work in 2015. We urge every textile worker to remain committed to the cause of social justice and renewed faith in an indivisible, united and democratic Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“We salute our members in National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) and entire Nigerian workers as we match towards New Year 2015. We extend our seasonal greetings to sister industrial unions, Textile Employers Association, governments at all levels, the press and all our well-wishers.
Assessing the state of the union, the leaders said “The union strived to fulfill its obligations to members during the year inspite of the depressed state of the industry. This is reflected in core areas of union’s work namely collective bargaining, job advocacy, job security, conflict resolution, capacity building, health education and improved working conditions. In the area of organization, we continue to intensify effort in organizing workers from both the formal and informal sectors. In the coming year, we will intensify our drive for membership as well as adopt strategies to cope with the emerging trend. We hope to sustain our position as an active affiliate of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and IndustriALL Global Union and continue to participate actively in their activities in the coming year.
“One major achievement of the union during the year is the just concluded national negotiation between the Union and the Nigeria Textile Garment and Tailoring Employers Association which has improved basic earning in the industry by 15%. This year’s agreement is the 44th national collective agreement since 1979. With the new national agreement workers in the textile industry has improved wage with effect from 1st October 2014.
“Yearly review of collective agreement in the industry shows the vibrancy of collective bargaining in our sector. Through the instrument of collective bargaining we have increased minimum basic wage cumulatively in our sector by over 50% within the past four years. The increase is well over 75% if we calculate from the period 2004 to 2014. The challenge in the coming year is to improve on these achievements.
“We congratulate all our members for this achievement and the support given to the union, especially during the just concluded negotiation. We must commend the textile management and employers represented by the Nigerian Textile Garment and Tailoring Employers Association (NTGTEA) for keeping the faith in spite of the difficulties facing the industry.
The textile workers’ union urged the government to emulate the private sector’s robust collective bargaining strategy .”We call on the government to emulate the system of robust collective bargaining as obtainable in the private sector. We cannot drive the country to the path of sustainable recovery without adequate pay for the workers.
“At N18,000.00 national minimum wage and exchange rate of N150 to one $1, Nigerian workers were earning approximately $120 per month in 2010. However with the devaluation of the currency and current exchange rate of almost N200 to $1, minimum wage has dropped to as low as $90 dollars per month, a shortfall of $30. When we take into consideration the rising inflation it is clear the real income of the working people has declined by over 50% within the last four years. Nigeria now has working poor whose monthly pay can hardly take them home because of government unstable policies. Nigeria certainly cannot be developed with working poor or working beggars.
It called on the federal government to review the minimum wage upward .”It is time the Federal government reviews upward the minimum wage. We warn against any attempt to further impoverish the working men and women of this country with reduction in pay or loss of jobs on account of the recently announced austerity measure by the Federal government. Austerity measure must first reflect through reduction in costs of governance. We will join the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to reject any further attempt to impoverish the Nigerian workers.
The union laments the lack of enambling environment for the industry to thrive .”The performance of the Nigerian textile industry remained at low ebb in 2014 due to lack of an enabling environment and inconsistency in government policy. Key problems affecting the industry include persistent electricity supply crisis, inadequate raw materials, government’s inability to regulate imports, high cost of production inputs, unrestrained importation of fake counterfeit and substandard textiles from China, low patronage of made in Nigeria textiles, security challenge, high interest rate and recent devaluation of the Naira.
“The capacity utilisation in the industry remains below 50% and the growth has been stagnant since 2012. The government had talked about a new textile policy in February 2013 however there has been no progress. Unless effective steps are taken by the government to revive the industry, gains achieved in 2010 will be lost and result in job losses, thus aggravating the unemployment situation.
“In 2015, we demand for patriotic industrial policies through direct mass actions to protect domestic industry. It is time we grow the non-oil sector.
The Union however commended the “National Industrial Court (NIC) for the explicit order given to the Management of Sino PP Woven Bag (Nigeria) Ltd Kano to allow the unionization of its workers by the National Union of Textile.
“We salute the courage and sense of fairness of the National Industrial Court (NIC) Abuja presided over by Hon. Justice P.O. Lifu JP who on the 4th day of December 2014 reiterated and ordered the immediate unionization of the 47 workers of Sino PP Woven Bag (Nigeria) Ltd who have agreed to become members of the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria. The court citing the provision of section 40 and section 254C (2) of 1999 Constitution as amended also ordered that other workers of Sino PP who may later change their mind to exercise their right of freedom of association should be allowed to do so without fear or favour, ill will or affection and none of the workers who have freely elected to unionize should be victimized or discriminated against in the workplace by the Management of Sino PP Woven Bag (Nigeria) Ltd.
“The National Industrial Court has once again shown that it is a final destination for industrial justice for the workers. It is commendable that the NIC under the leadership of Hon. Justice Babatunde Adejumo OFR is rapidly regaining the confidence of the workers in the court on critical issues of workers’ rights, right to unionization and collective bargaining. With this positive development, workers and trade unions may not be pushed to self help.
The textile workers also noted that the coordinating Minister for the Economy and Honourable Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala recently presented the 2015 budget to the National Assembly on behalf of the President. The N4.74 trillion budget was based on the benchmark of $65 per barrel, 2.27 million barrels per day and exchange rate of N165 to a dollar.
“At $65 per barrel, the budget still confirms that Nigeria is an oil dependent economy contrary to the claim of the Honourable Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy.
“Sustainable budgets are the ones based on revenue arising from real sector of the economy namely domestic manufacturing and exportation of finished goods.
“The national assembly in debating this budget proposal should put policies that will grow the real sectors of the economy and in particular ensure that CBN lowers the interest rate and stop the free fall of the Naira which will undermine purchasing power of the working people. They should also make sure the budget captures practical measures on reducing cost of governance which must start with drastic reduction of pay and allowances of the Executive and legislature.
On the race for political offices in 2015, the union urged “ all the political parties candidates to operate based on the spirit and content of the constitution. The language of political contest should also be constitutional. Nigeria’s constitution defines all Nigerians as citizens, not Muslims, Christian, Northerners and Southerners.
“2015 election should be based on issues namely diversification of economy through reindustrialisation, job creation, improved power supply, poverty alleviation, health, education and end to physical and economic social insecurity.
“We commend the Committee of Wise men made up of eminent Nigerians under the auspices of National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria for their tremendous contributions towards maintaining peace and security in the country.
The statement by textile workers’ union also underlined the “need for urgent action to address the current intolerable state of insecurity in Nigeria. We again call on President Goodluck Jonathan to address the country through the National Assembly on the state of the nation and the road map on addressing insurgency and insecurity in Nigeria. Nigerians need presidential assurance about the unity of our great country. The President should offer leadership for all Nigerians regardless of their callings for a national resistance against the invasion of our country.”
