Kaduna – The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) on Tuesday criticised alleged attempt by Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i to stop workers from joining trade unions.
The union, in a communique signed by its President, John Adaji and General Secretary, Issa Aremu, said the right to belong to a trade union is a fundamental human right which the governor must respect.
The communique covered the resolutions of the union after its 11th National Delegates Conference held in Kano.
It stressed that the right to unionise was guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution and International Labour Organisation Conventions 87 and 98, which Nigeria is a signatory.
The union observed the increasing violation of workers’ rights particularly the right to freedom of association and collective bargaining.
“The conference supports the NLC position that the right of workers to belong to the union is a settled matter; even the 2014 National Conference endorsed it.
“We condemn in totality attempt by the Kaduna State Government to make membership of union conditional through filling of forms by workers in the ongoing workers verification exercise.
“This is illegal and unacceptable.
“We insist that workers right to belong to union is unconditional.”
The union supported the decision of the Nigeria Labour Congress to defend the interest of workers in the state from any form of harassment.
“The NUTGTWN will work with other affiliates of the NLC and TUC to defend the rights of workers to join the union and collective bargaining. ”
The communiqué expressed concern that low crude oil prices had impacted negatively on economic performance in recent times leading to a sharp fall in GDP.
“We observe that with the price of crude oil falling below 40 dollars, Nigeria, has a new opportunity to diversify and industrialise the economy, create jobs and move the people out of poverty. ”
It said that Nigeria should fix its refineries, explore its local refining capacity and build petrochemical and gas plants.
The union said it would support the completion of the biggest private refinery in the world, with 650,000 barrels per day capacity, by Dangote group at the cost of $11 billion.
The communiqué noted with regret that Nigeria spends as much as $10 billion annually on importation of petroleum products.
The union urged President Muhammadu Buhari to urgently convene stakeholders meeting on textile, so as to implement the Nigeria industrial Revolution Plan.
“President Buhari should be commended for his commitment to the three-point agenda namely: economy, security and anti-corruption.”
It noted with delight the progress so far recorded in the fight against corruption and the war against insurgency in Nigeria.
“We support the efforts of EFCC and ICPC to recover all the looted funds. ”
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The Communiqué reaffirmed commitment of the union to democratic governance as an enduring path to sustainable development.
The union condemns the new dangerous attack on democracy in Rivers and Kogi, and harped on the need to deepen the democratic process through constructive engagement to ensure unity and national development.
“As a democratic trade union, we reaffirm our support and commitment to democracy and good governance in Nigeria and Africa in general.
“We call on INEC under the chairmanship of Prof. Mahmud Yakubu to live up to its brief by conducting free and fair elections.”(NAN)