The General Secretary of Public Service International (PSI), Comrade Rosa Pavanelli, has expressed concerned over the poor working condition of Nigerian workers without salaries.
Pavanelli who stated this while on a visit to President of the Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC), in Abuja said it is unheard of for any worker to be owed salary in a rich country as Nigeria.
She attributed inequality, injustice as part of the leading cause of insurgency in the country thus, calling on the government to immediately address the root cause.
“Working for months and providing services without being paid is something that is unacceptable under any circumstance and in any place. This unfortunately, is what is happening here in Nigeria, a country that is rich of resources.
“The very root causes of inequality, injustice and properly part of the pro of these insurgency in the Nigeria resides in the fact that if you do not provide the fundamental human right, people is exposed to all kinds of aggression, propaganda, violence.”
While lamenting on the poor working condition of the public workers working in the IDPs in the country, Pavanelli, frowned at the government plans to privatize the public sector maintain that it will only to impoverish the Nigerian masses while leaving the common wealth for the few greedy elites.
Speaking also, NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, stressed that the Nigerian workers will always oppose to the privitisation of national assets in the country, explaining that it will only lead to putting the country’s resources in the hands of very few elites.
“It’s not about the people, it’s actually about interest. Therefore, we say clearly that we are against privitisation of any public service, from health to education t civil service. We also discourage the use of consultants in the civil service. We have seen the outcome of power sector privitisation in Nigeria. What is going on is exploitation. They exploit people to pay estimated billings. They have refused to issue metres to people and at the end of the month, they bring outrageous bills.
“It is a process that everyone has seen that it has failed especially with the amount of resources that have been committed to the sector reform over $16 Billion and there is no commensurate result to say that, we are in the right direction.”
Speaking further on the new minimum wage, Wabba disclosed that in line with convention 131 of the ILO, a tripartite negotiation process which lasted for a year arrived at a figure of N30,000 as new minimum wage, adding only for some governors to come out with a lesser amount after the meeting had reached a conclusion.
“Coming at this very late hour to talk about any figure outside N30,000, will amount to trying to divert our attention and is belated.
“I think, the process is very clear, as outline in the convention 131. It’s a tripartite negotiation process and the process has ended.
“It took one year. The process that led to agreeing the N30,000 minimum wage was a collective agreement and we have remained focus on that.” He said