2024 May Day: Workers Must Fight For a Living Wage Now!!!

The Workers and Youth Solidarity Network (WYSN) extend her solidarity greetings to Nigerian workers and all working people worldwide. We in the WYSN continue to stand in solidarity with workers for a new minimum wage and an end to all anti-poor and pro-rich policies. We also call for an end to the casual/contract system in all sectors of the economy; from construction to banking and oil and gas.

INFLATION AT ITS PEAK!

Undoubtedly, the prices of goods have increased beyond the income of the working people. The naira floating policy adopted by the CBN marks the third major anti-worker policy of Tinubu’s first 10 months in office, following the removal of subsidies on PMS and electricity. There is also an average 225% increase in fees across all federal and state institutions. The shift from study grants to student loans is another issue that affects the poor. Student loans cannot alleviate the crisis in the education sector; instead, they will lead to increased fees at various institutions, fund mismanagement, and debt accumulation.

PROTEST, DON’T QUEUE

Barely a year ago, Tinubu announced that ‘subsidy is gone’. Many workers, including the labour leaders, fell of the illusion that Tinubu had made the right decision. 11 months after, queues have returned despite the over 350% hike in prices of PMS. Despite all of the promises of the Tinubu-led administration, there is nothing to show for the removal of subsidies. As we have warned, the removal of subsidies instead of prosecuting the few looters behind the subsidy scam is nothing but a way to increase the burden on ordinary innocent citizens.

RESIST THE NEW ELECTRICITY TARIFF

Workers must also resist the recent hike in the electricity tariff for Band A users. Workers must vehemently reject the attempt further to segregate the citizens on the basis of power supply. We should rather demand uninterrupted, consistent, and affordable electricity for all citizens regardless of location and environment. Electricity is a collective resource and we do not see any valid reason why there should be a discrepancy in the distribution of electricity across the board. This is another crisis of privatization and capitalism that workers must reject outright.

A LIVING WAGE NOW!

Workers and Youths must use this year’s May Day to raise a campaign on a new minimum wage and to mount pressure on the labour leaders to accelerate actions against the government (federal and state) and private sectors. Workers must prepare to confront state governors and private owners who would want to defile the national minimum wage despite the huge resources in their disposal; just as we have seen in the implementation of the wage award. Nigeria has huge resources to cater for the needs of the citizens. The demand for a new minimum wage must be linked to the cut in the jumbo salary earned by the political office holders and their appointees.

FOR A WORKERS’ POLITICAL ALTERNATIVE

The attempt to reclaim the Labour Party by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) must also be linked with mass membership and to prepare the workers for the struggle ahead to make the party accessible to ordinary people. The participation of right-wing elements like Peter Obi in the last general election is a signal that the party needs to orientate towards the working class. This kind of political party must serve as a platform for workers to claim political power, enthrone a socialist government, and start to utilize our collective resources for our collective benefit.

The WYSN is a campaign platform of the Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM). We are workers, youth, students, and trade union activists. We work in communities to raise campaigns against unemployment and underemployment, police brutality, estimated billing, inflation hikes in fees and other anti-poor policies.

Revolutionary Socialist Movement (RSM) is a movement for the popular masses – Workers, Youths, Small Traders and Small Farmers, Workers, Youths and the Students

RSM STANDS FOR:

• Free, functional quality education and health care at all levels

• End jumbo pay for political officeholders

• A minimum wage of N200,000 and a decent job for every unemployed. We are against casual and precarious labour

• Affordable and quality housing

• Affordable and uninterrupted power supply to all households

• No to continued arrests, torture and detention of opposition activists

• For the rights of suppressed national minorities and not attack people fighting for self-determination

• End sexism, no to sexual harassment, a mass movement to defend gender equality

• Nationalisation of the key sectors of the economy under democratic control and management by the workers and society

• Democratically-run community security committees to defeat bandits and to put an end to killings of innocent ordinary people

• A socialist Nigeria free from the greed of capitalist corporations and imperialist domination

• A socialist confederation of Africa towards a socialist world.

Nigeria’s resources are enough to provide for our needs, the problem is the greed of the corrupt ruling elites and the capitalist system.