NLC rain School trains 250 yearly, upgrades to Labour College – NLC President

… As Sunny James makes case for over 720 sacked workers

By Saviour Ekpe

The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Philibus Wabba, mni has announced that the NLC Rain School located at the NLC Solidarity Center in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State will soon be upgraded to a NLC Training College soon.

The President made this known during the 2019 edition of the NLC National Rain School session in Uyo recently. He explained that the school, which is 17^th in the series is a flagship of NLC’s educational activities, which trains about 250 labour leaders every year on labour relations since its inception. He noted that for effective delivery on its mandate, the NLC Rain School is working out modalities to convert the school to a College, requested that a befitting cafeteria be built by the Akwa Ibom State government to compliment its effort as host state.

On the issue of the lingering 30,000 naira Nigerian National minimum wage for workers, the Comrade President called on the federal government to expedite action for the implementation of the minimum wage to workers, he wondered “why payment of salary should become a liability instead of a responsibility?”

Earlier in his solidarity message, the State Chairperson of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Akwa Ibom State, Comrade (Elder) Sunny James while welcoming guests to the event advocated that the Rain School should rather be called, ‘International Rain School’ in view of its contributions to international development through capacity building especially at the leadership level.

Comrade James while commending the effort of the Akwa Ibom State government on industrial development and a brand new bus donated to the women committee of the NLC in the state, highlighted what he termed as “difficulties imposed on workers through unwholesome government policies and actions”. Some of these according to him include the seven hundred and twenty three (723) local government workers and some union leaders at the Jubilee Syringe Company that were sacked; non-payment of gratuity to retired Primary School Teachers and local government workers since 2011 as well as staffer of the Akwa Savings and Loans.

He further explained other issue of unnecessary deductions from staff salaries without notice and information, called on the Akwa Ibom State government to cooperate with NLC as they are ready to also to cooperate with the government.

Solidarity messages were presented by labour union leaders from Zambia, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ghana among others.