Ahead of the 2023 general election, organised labour has vowed to ensure that over 16 million block votes of workers, pensioners and other circles of influence in the country, go to the political parties that have the welfare and interests of workers and the masses at heart.
The organised labour said this in Abuja on Sunday during the commemoration of the 2022 Workers’ Day.
Speaking at the event held with the theme, ‘Labour, Politics and the Quest for Good Governance and Development in Nigeria,’ the labour also vowed to ensure Nigerians no longer suffer social injustices as a result of the action or inaction of governments, by proceeding to mobilise the citizenry against any poor performing government without waiting for elections to vote them out.
A joint address read by President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba, and his TUC counterpart, Comrade Quadri Olaleyi, listed the core labour issues still confronting Nigerian workers and the masses to include the failure of some state governments to implement the national minimum wage, especially Abia, Taraba, Cross River and Zamfara states.
Other core issues also listed were abuse and humiliation meted out at pensioners, decent work deficits, violation of human, workers and trade union rights, and the consistent and unabating industrial crisis in the university system involving academic and non-academic staff unions.
They said: “It must be our collective endeavour to put the Workers’ Charter of Demands at the front burner of 2023 politics. We can make this happen by mobilizing every Nigerian worker and pensioner to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ready.
“We must be ready to engage political parties, especially working-class friendly parties and progressive political interests across the country to ensure that a significant number of candidates who would be for elective positions in 2023 subscribe to the provisions of our Charter.
“Beyond engaging the politics of 2023 general election, Nigerian workers just accept partisan politics as a fundamental way of life for the protection, survival and flourishing of the working-class.
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“We will no longer wait for elections to mobilize Nigerians to take charge of the destiny of their country. We will be more proactive and pronounced in the daily political undertakings of our country.
“We will mobilize the Nigerian people to monitor and engage the performance of those we elect into political offices. We will match the performance metrics of the political class against the Workers’ Charter of Demands. Their readings on our scale will determine the swing of the pendulum of the workers’ ballot.
“Pursuant to the foregoing, organised labour is energizing its structures down to the grassroots.
“We are facilitating the emergence of a progressive pro-Nigerian Workers’ political coalition. If your political party is truly progressive and worker-friendly, you will be discussing with us.
“The over 16 million block votes of Nigerian workers, pensioners, our families and other circles of influence will go to political parties and candidates that assure us that the dreams of Nigerian workers and people would no longer be treated as governance addendum or as objects to be trampled under.”
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