Tension As NLC Set To Declare State Of Emergency

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) may declare a state of emergency over non-payment and cuts in the salaries of workers in some states.

This was contained in a statement by the NLC President, Mr Ayuba Wabba, on Thursday.

Wabba explained that salaries were not an allocation to workers but remunerations earned in line with international best practices and in consonance with Convention 138 of the International Labour Organisation.

He said: “We may declare a state of emergency in the area of non-payment of salaries and we are going to have a meeting with all our state councils to respond effectively to some of these challenges.

“We want to take stock of exactly what the issues are and we will also put appropriate employers on notice.

“We will declare a state of emergency because workers should not be made to bear the brunt of the challenges because they are not responsible.

“When the economy was good they did not enjoy, now that there is a challenge, they are the worst-hit, it should not be so; these are our arguments.

“But when they are taking such decisions, they also have to be very balanced in taking such decision; it should not only apply to workers.

“Political office holders are still collecting their money even though they are proposing the reduction; they are still collecting the security vote we are talking about and they are still issuing bogus contracts.”