Nigeria: Implement teacher’s salary scale in Osun State now!

Press Statement:
• Implement Teacher’s Salary Scale in Osun State Now!
• Immediate Reversal of the Anti-Poor 50 Percent Cut In Social Service Sector Spending
• For a 48-hour general strike by NUT and NLC to force government concede

The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR), Osun State hereby call for the immediate implementation of the long-awaited Teacher’s Salary Scale by the Oyinlola government. We also call on the leadership of the Nigerian Union Teachers in the state to call a 48 hour warning strike to force Oyinlola government to implement the TSS. On this basis, the leadership of NUT must call immediate congress of its members where collective decisions will be taken on how to conduct the struggle to achieve victory with a total strike (accompanied with rallies, pickets and protest marches) to follow strike committee if the Oyinlola fail to yield.

It will be recalled that the Oyinlola/Osun State government after threat of long drawn struggle by teachers three months ago to concede to implement the TSS in June this year if the state revenue improves. We of the CDWR had then called on teachers to reject this dubious position of the anti-worker government, as the excuse of low revenue profile of the state is only hypocritical. We maintained that the same argument will be used in June to avoid paying this pittance to teachers. We have been vindicated by the latest attempt of the government to pretend as if it has not any agreement with workers. We had then called for a mass strike by teachers to compel government to implement this allowance.

The same state government that claims not to have money could not explain what it has used tens of billions that had accrued to the state coffer for the past six years with every facet of public service already in shambles. Public education is in comatose while tertiary education has been commercialized; health facilities are in terrible conditions as health workers continue to protest lack of basic facilities and poor salary; public infrastructures like roads and water systems have collapse while jobs are elusive for the teeming youth as the Oyin-corp scheme is nothing short of extortion and exploitation of the poor people. Furthermore, workers, who knew nothing about the capitalists induced economic crisis, could not be made to be the victims of the crisis. While the state government claims not to have money to pay workers, it finds it convenient to pay politicians hundreds of thousands as monthly salary for doing practically nothing than looting the state blind. How can a state government justify the over N300, 000 salary paid to a ward councilor (and over N60, 000 to a councilor’s wife) while the highest paid teachers collects less than 30 percent and the least paid teacher collects less than 4 percent of a councilor’s pay. The total annual salaries of councilors in the state (running to over N1.4 billion) are enough to employ 2240 workers on N50, 000 monthly salary. This is pure robbery!

Worse still, all government policies have continued to favour the rich few in power and business which has made lives more miserable for the poor people in the state. Just few weeks ago, the state government issued an anti-poor, pro-rich policy of 50 percent cut in spending for public service sector including tertiary institutions and health sector. In a state where public facilities like education and health are in poor conditions and virtually inaccessible to the poor people in the state, the latest cut in public spending on these social services is another deadly onslaught on the poor and working people in the state.

With the latest policy, the state owned tertiary institutions will be given excuse to hike fees (which have already being hiked by over 600 percent in the past one year) beyond the reach of the students while many workers will also be retrenched in a state where government has provided little or no job for the teeming youth in the state. Also, health facilities will be elusive for the people of the state as the collapsing hospitals in the state will be made to fund themselves. It will be recalled that health workers in the state are still having battles with the state government on remuneration.

With the above scenario, Osun State teachers and indeed all workers must fight for a better living standard by compelling government to pay adequate wages. If NUT leadership in the state does not fight for the immediate implementation of the TSS, it will provide encouragement for the anti-worker Oyinlola government to reject the payment of N52, 200 minimum wage when the national leadership of NLC and TUC wins the battle. Moreover, the NUT leadership must demand for massive funding of public education in the state by at least 30 percent of the budget with education workers through their democratic representative determine and supervise how the money will be utilized in order to prevent the rats in government from looting such resources. NUT must reject a situation whereby workers will be working in a frustrated environment due to lack of basic facilities.

We also call on the NLC, TUC and other unions in the state to call a 48 hours warning strike through a general congress, to compel Oyinlola government to rescind the decision to cut public spending by 50 percent and to show solidarity with the teachers. They should not wait until the effects of the terrible neo-liberal policy start hitting working and poor people who are already groaning under pervasive poverty and want engendered by the anti-poor, neo-liberal policies of Oyinlola government and its masters at the federal level. Thus, the warning strike should be used to demand among other things:

- Immediate and full implementation of the TSS, backdated to January, 2009.
- Reversal of the anti-poor policy of cut in public spending by 50 percent. For massive funding of social service sector like education, health, etc.
- N52, 200 minimum wage to all categories of workers in the country.
- Cut in public officers’ salary to the level of workers to provide money to develop society.
- Well-paid and secure jobs for all able-bodied persons in the state.
- Regularize all temporary workers including Oyin-corps workers with full employment. No to retrenchment.
- Public scrutiny of the state account by democratic representatives of workers at all levels.
- Massive development of public infrastructures like roads, public housing, potable water, etc. through equipping of works ministry as a public works corporation rather than giving out contracts to looters in power.
- Public ownership of the commanding height of the economy under the democratic control of the working people and consumers’ representatives.

To us in the CDWR, we believe that the state and the nation’s resources, if judiciously and democratically used, could provide these demands without tears, but for the neo-liberal capitalist plundering being supervised by politicians in power. This is why labour movement must stand up to defend working and poor people’s interest.

Signed.

Ahaji Waheed Lawal

Kola Ibrahim
Chairman Secretary