Organized Labour In Anambra Joins Peaceful Protest
The Organized Labour in Anambra state joined their counterparts across the nation in a peaceful demonstration to protest hardship and non-review of minimum wage by the federal government.
The workers protested from Aroma junction to Anambra State Government House Gate chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards with inscriptions such as, “Let the poor breath, review our minimum wage, we are dying of hunger, insecurity is increasing everyday among others.
Addressing the State Head of Service, Barrister Theodora Igwegbe who received the workers on behalf of the State government, Anambra state Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Humphrey Nwafor, lamented inflation in the country affecting costs of feeding, transportation, house rent among others.
He expressed regrets that government seems unperturbed in the face of all these difficulties and challenges.
Comrade Nwafor also observed that the hardship is seriously affecting workers as the that thirty-thousand-naira minimum wage has remained static in the states that are implementing it.
The State NLC Chairman further emphasized that workers in Anambra State are not comfortable with the process of the pension scheme going on in the state, requesting that it be stopped till further notice.
The NLC chairman commended Governor Chukwuma Soludo for the palliative he extended to workers from September to December last year, and called on him to review the palliative upward and recommence it, as according to him, the workers need all the financial assistance they can get in this trying times so as to survive.
Comrade Nwafor lamented that a lot of people are committing suicide on daily basis due to the current economic situation in the country.
Responding, the Head of Service, Barrister Igwegbe, explained that Governor Soludo was unavoidably absent because of the building collapse that claimed lives in Onitsha, and would have personally received the workers.
and said that the governor has human feelings, especially in these hard times.
Barrister Igwegbe recalled that Governor Soludo implemented palliative even before federal government and many Governors, stating that as a member of the National Review Committee on Minimum Wage and also a member of the Economic Advisory Council Team of President Bola Tinubu, he is in better position to understand what the workers are going through.
Earlier, the State Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Comrade Kingsley Udorji, requested the federal government to rescue the economy as well as review upwards the minimum wage which, he stressed, should be a take home package.
He expressed dismay that many many people now resort to suicide, while crime has continued to increase because people are hungry, stressing the need for urgent attention to redeem the ugly teend.
The presence of police men and other sister agencies were felt as they were on ground to ensure that there was no breakdown of law and other
Affiliate member unions of NLC including the NUJ, RATTAWU, NTI, NULGE, JUSUN, ASUP were all present during the protest.
