SAN FRANCISCO, March 03, (THEWILL) – The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has declared its objection to any plan by government to increase the Value Added Tax (VAT).
The NLC position was made known on Friday by its President, Ayuba Wabba, at the presentation of a book entitled ‘Developmental Unionism’ in Abuja, declaring that any such move would further impoverish Nigerians.
Wabba, represented by the NLC Head of Information, Comrade Benson Ukpah, said that instead of increasing VAT and thereby placing more burden on the people, government should go after all individual tax dodgers and multinationals who are in the habit of not paying tax, but prefer to negotiate what they want to pay.
He declared that the working-class people in the country are more hit by the current economic challenges in the country as he lamented the current division within the labour union saying it was weakening the bargaining power workers to the advantage of employers and government.
“If you look at the social partners, whereas the government has power and resources and employers have resources, unions do not have the material resources the two other social partners have except their labour as well as strength in their unity and this should not be discountenanced,” he said.
“In fact, not even the unfortunate civil war created this kind of situation for Nigerians. When we have challenges in the economy, they directly translate into the working and living conditions of workers.
“This challenges also directly affect our unions. When salaries and pensions are not regularly paid, they transmit poverty and suffering to our homes.
“When inflation rises without commensurate rise in pay, this reduces the capacity and purchasing power of the worker and reduces the quality of food and standard of living of the worker. The present economic challenges are directly felt more by workers than any other member of the Nigerian community.
“The other challenge we face in the world of work at the moment is that while capital is consolidating, leading to a situation where we have transnational corporations far richer and far stronger than national government, unions are fragmenting and doing the exact opposite. So, this further weakens the bargaining power of unions because strength lies in unity.
“The other challenge we have is that while capital is able to move, Labour is not allowed to move. Each time there is a project of Foreign Direct Investment, the government welcomes them with open hands.
“Whenever some of our political leaders take our money and take it outside the country, nobody questions them. The billions of naira that has been taken out of this country was done with the aid of foreign collaborators.
“Corruption has eaten into the fabrics of this country and we must fight it and restore the integrity and honour of this country so that our children can stay back here and not be treated like dogs in South Africa.”
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