Olayiwola Matthew
As part of its mobilization against the planned 50 percent telecom tariff hike, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has resolved to hold a nationwide anti-telecom tariff hike protest Tuesday, February 4.
It was gathered that the nationwide protest was agreed on at the ongoing National Administrative Council, NAC of NLC
It is aimed at sounding a note of warning to the government that workers would resist the planned hike as it would worsen the poverty level across the country.
Recall that NLC had, on January 22, rejected the 50 percent telecommunication tariffs hike approved by the Federal Government through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC.
According to NLC, the 50 percent tariffs hike approval, “at a time Nigerian workers and the masses are grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, is a clear assault on their welfare and an abandonment of the people to corporate fat cats.”
In a statement titled “50% Telecom tariff hike: Another burden too harsh!” NLC’s President, Joe Ajaero, said: “The NLC expresses its unequivocal condemnation of the Federal Government’s recent approval, through the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, of a 50 percent increase in telecommunication tariffs.
“This decision, coming at a time when Nigerian workers and the masses are grappling with unprecedented economic hardship, is a clear assault on their welfare and an abandonment of the people to corporate fat cats.
“Telecommunication services are essential for daily communication, work, and access to information. Yet, an average Nigerian worker already spends approximately 10 percent of their wages on telecom charges.
“For a worker earning the current minimum wage of N70,000, this means an increase from N7,000 to a staggering N10,500 per month or 15 percent of his salary — a cost that is unsustainable.
“This hike exemplifies the government’s apparent ease in prioritizing corporate profits over citizens’ welfare.