President of Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Festus Osifo, has commended the Edo State Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, for prioritising the welfare of workers in the State and increasing the minimum wage of workers to N70,000, which is the highest in the Country.
Comrade Osifo gave the commendation during a courtesy visit at the Government House, in Benin City.
He commended the governor for his administration’s achievements in the last seven and a half years, noting that the Obaseki-led administration has taken Edo to enviable heights.
The TUC President noted, “This is the first courtesy call we are paying to any Governor in Nigeria. In fact, on a few occasions, we have actually been invited by a few State Governors. What we normally do is to check their records if they are good and have performed well but if the records are not good, we don’t go because we could easily be blackmailed that a government that is not doing well wants to use us as if it is doing well, especially when it concerns the plight of workers.
“We are here to tell you thank you for some of the things that you have done for workers in Edo State. Starting from the fact that just recently on the 29th day of April, you invited us to commission a very befitting Secretariat for the labour movement in Nigeria. On that day, clearly everybody that came to that event will attest to the fact that it is one of the best.
“In fact, that is the best Secretariat we have in Nigeria. That day, you surprised us by announcing a raise of the minimum wage of workers in the State from N40,000 to N70,000. It was something that is worthwhile because you know we are still battling with the issue around minimum wage. Whenever we have these conversations, Edo State is always a reference point.”
Comrade Osifo added, “Without negotiation, you did that unilaterally, without any struggle. We thought after doing it, some States will start announcing the same, but up to date, we have not had any announcements. All they said was let the Federal Government have a new minimum wage and we will try to implement it. There was something you added that very day which is very instructive, that if the federal government’s minimum wage is higher than this, you are also ready to implement.
“We say thank you so much. But in this State, we don’t struggle with staff salaries. We know some of the things that have been accomplished regarding pensions and staff salaries. Before the end of the month, there is always an alert to the civil servants.”
On his part, Governor Obaseki said, “First let me thank the President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Comrade Osifo for remembering home. You are our pride; you are our gift to the trade union movement in Nigeria.
“We said you are working in the tradition of trade unionism from Edo State in Nigeria. You are working in the shadows of Micheal Imodu, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, and others.
“One of our agenda is to build this place as a tourist centre and when people come and visit, we will tell them one thing that makes us outstanding in Nigeria, is that we are the home of the labour movement.
“As a government, honestly, we do not understand why you have government-labour tension because as you said, you are a factor of production. You provide labour, you provide human capacity and it has to be paid for. It’s one of the greatest factors of production in any system today.”
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