On Thursday, August 13, 2009 was the Labour and Civil Society Coalition (LASCO) rally in Ibadan. The protest was against the government policy of deregulation of the oil sector, workers demand for 52,200 minimum wage and against various anti-people policies of the government. The rally in Ibadan was the 7th of such rallies which had also held in Kano, Lagos, Makurdi, Enugu, Asaba and Maiduguri.

 

For Better welfare package

Against victimisation

 The Medical Guild, the umbrella body for all medical doctors employed by the Lagos State Government, met at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) on Monday, 20th of April 2009 and signified its intention to resume another round of strike action to pursue its demand at the expiration of a ten-day ultimatum to the Lagos State Government.

 

Better welfare package; Against victimisation

These demands are: better welfare package with the immediate implementation of an improved salary structure based on the CONTISS Salary Scale, which has already been implemented by the Federal Government and a number of states in the federation since January 2007. CONTISS is expected to enhance the salaries by almost 50% across the board for all health workers. The demands of the Medical Guild also include better working environment in the hospitals, particularly with regard to having conducive consulting rooms, clinics, operating theaters etc as against the present unpalatable situation of doctors “taking call-duties in filthy, unhygienic, ramshackle rooms and hospitals still largely being run in darkness, clinics run in hot rooms with equipment in various states of dilapidation”.

Other major demands are the immediate reinstatement of the Medical Guild Chairman, Dr Ibrahim Olaifa, who was recently dismissed from service because of his union activities, especially for addressing press conferences on the doctors’ agitation and immediate stoppage of all forms of harassment and victimization of the Guild officials/activists.

The Guild is to meet immediately at the same venue after the expiration of the ultimatum to determine the mode of operation of the next round of agitations.

It will be recalled that the leadership of the Medical Guild prompted the congress to suspend the last round of strike action on the 7th of January 2009 even when the Lagos State Government was yet to meet any of the outlined demands of the strike on the understanding that the demands will be met within three months of suspending the strike action.

The Nigerian teachers under the aegis of the NUT have been on strike to back up their demands for a Teachers' Salary Scale (TSS), a demand that has been raised for about 20 years. This same demand was agreed to by the government in 2003, but up till now has never been signed. One significant aspect of this strike is the overwhelming support it is presently enjoying from the public. Almost all bourgeois newspapers put the public support at a huge 88% of the population. This is a magnificent response and a major source of inspiration for the teachers.

Suffice it to say, this present strike has thrown up a lot of troubling questions. If the demand has been raised for 20 years ago, why is the NUT saying enough is enough now? What is responsible for this marvellous public support and can it be sustained? What must the NUT do to win this battle once and for all? These are the questions to be tackled by this write-up and most importantly to solidarise with the father of all professions.

The General Meeting of the Medical Guild, the umbrella body of all doctors employed by the Lagos state government, was held on Wednesday, December 31, 2009 with a resolve by the overwhelming majority - more than 90% present and voting - to embark on an indefinite strike action as of January 5, 2009. This is with the aim to press home the demands for an improved salary package based on the CONTISS Salary Scale, which has already been implemented by the Federal Government and a number of states in the federation since January 2007.
Demands

Organized labour in Nigeria has presented a demand for a N52,000 minimum wage to the government. This has obviously generated a lot of heat from all quarters. The bourgeois intellectuals have come in their multitude to explain to and confuse the public that this demand is not only unrealistic, but that it is also highly detrimental to the proper functioning of the fragile Nigerian economy. It would lead to inflation and worsen the unemployment figures, so they claim. It is imperative that we highlight their claims and puncture their unintelligent analysis. This article is aimed at doing justice to this.
Is the demand justified?

December 12th, 2008 is a day the residents of Sagamu in Ogun State will not forget in a hurry. This was a day in which one of their own, a woman, was shot dead by the police and then branded as leader of a gang of robbers.

The woman, Funmilayo Abudu, a mother of four, was until her death an innocent worker, going about her daily chores in the pursuit of ‘daily bread’ and a better life for herself and her family

The woman did not deserve to die, and definitely not under the circumstances in which she was killed. The fact that the policemen concerned did not show any remorse for a life “mistakenly” cut short by them, and instead went on to dress her corpse up as a leader of a gang of robbers blows the mind.

By Editorial Board of Workers' Alternative    
Monday, 10 July 2006

Since we issued the June 26, 2006 editorial statement, the strike of the workers continues and the management of Nigerchin is desperately ruthless. They are working day and night using the dirtiest tricks in the book towards undermining the workers and getting rid of all them.

On June 27, they issued a memo saying that they had closed down the factory; that workers should come and collect the pay-offs. In addition, they say that workers interested in working for Nigerchin should reapply!

This is in spite of the fact that they were to meet with the representative of the NLC that week. However, they arrogantly declined to meet with the NLC or the NUSDE representatives. They then fixed the meeting with the NLC for Wednesday July 5.

 

Fraternal Greetings to our Comrades in the Nigerian Union of Teachers. We humbly salute the courage and steadfastness you have clearly demonstrated before and during this just and necessary industrial action that you have embarked upon to force the regime of Umaru Musa Yar adua to approve the Teachers Salary Scale for Nigerian teachers in Nigeria.