BREAKING NEWS, Politics
–
The Christian Association of Nigerian Americans counsels that the federal government’s negotiation of minimum wage with the Nigerian Labour Congress though commendable should not lead to retrenchment
ADE Oyesile, executive director of the Christian Association of Nigerian Americans, CANAN, has commended the on-going meeting between the federal government and the Nigerian Labor Congress, NLC, over increase in national minimum wage for workers, adding, however, that mass retrenchment is not an option.
In a statement by Williams Ekanem, media consultant to CANAN, and made available to Realnews, the executive director pointed out that the federal government must be commended for opting to sit at the negotiation table to even talk about salary increment in the face of harsh financial realities occasioned by oil price drop.
According to Oyesile, “it surely shows that the government has the interest of the people and should therefore stop introducing the option of staff rationalisation because if the federal government, the highest employer of labour could not retain its staff, where would they run to when thrown out of job.”
Warning of the dire consequence of the mass retrenchment to the already sagging economy, Oyesile pointed out that government should rather be thinking of how to creatively engage the workers into revenue yielding activities such as commercial farming and involvement in the extractive industries.
The CANAN director also commended the NLC for calling off the nationwide strike action over the removal of fuel subsidy, saying it would create an enabling atmosphere for labour to make its case. He added that since no meaningful dialogue could be achieved with strike action, the federal government should use the window of opportunity to make a persuading case to the labour leaders and by extension the generality of Nigerians.
CANAN is the leading voice of Nigerian American Christians living in the United Sates with the mission to vigorously advocate for all Nigerians at home and abroad as well as mobilise Nigerians to participate in nation building process wherever they find themselves.
The Association has been in the forefront against anti-societal activities and led the call for the classification of Boko Haram as a foreign terrorist organisation by the United States in 2010 and held several rallies in USA cities to protests the kidnap of the school girls by the sect.
— May 26, 2016 @ 13:20 GMT
|
Tags:
