The IndustriALL Global Union’s fifty million workers in 140 countries have congratulated the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailorin...
The IndustriALL Global Union’s fifty million workers in 140 countries have congratulated the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGWN, on the successful hosting of the 12th Quadrennial National Delegates” Conference in Abuja and the election of new national executive for the next four years. The new Executive Council is headed by John Adaji as the President elected for the second 4 years term.
The high points of the 12th Congress were the adoption of the Secretariat report of activities in the past four years and the retirement of Issa Aremu as the General Secretary of the Union having served the union for 31 years, 8 of which as an acting General Secretary and 23 years as successively elected substantive General Secretary.
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IndustriALL Global Union with headquarters in Geneva in a letter signed by its Secretary-General Secretary Valter Sanches singled out the Union’s former General Secretary for appreciation for his globally acknowledged service to the labour movement.
Aremu attains the statutory retirement age of 60 years January 8th, 2021 remains IndustriALL Vice President and executive member of the Sub Saharan Africa region until it’s 3rd global Congress scheduled for Cape Town South Africa in October this year.
The constitution of Textile Union makes the position of General Secretary elective of four years term which lasts 2024. Ali Baba, a Principal Assistant General Secretary in charge of the Kano area of the Union was therefore appointed as the Acting General Secretary of the union.
The former General Secretary had since congratulated his successor whose appointment he said was “earned and deserved based on commitment, honesty, selflessness and faithfulness, loyalty to the Union” promising a smooth transition and sustainable progress of the Union.
In spite of the challenges of factory closures and job losses, the textile union had been adjudged relatively stable with a peaceful record of successions at delegates’ conferences which often focused on issues that affect the workers and the industry rather than controversial issues of elective offices that had crippled the cohesion of many unions.
The union had signed as many as 45 national collective agreements in its 40 years of existence without a national shut down of the factories. Aremu and his colleagues would be remembered for keeping the cohesion of the union which was once in turmoil in 1993 after an orchestrated violent attack on the union through fake reports and rumors. Aremu had held all critical positions from an Organizer to senior Deputy General Secretary.
He was also two terms Vice President of NLC (2007-2015) and members of labour market institutions such as Michael Imoudu Labour Institute, Ilorin, Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund, NSITF, National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission, Labour Transport Service among others.
Aremu is regarded as the face of reindustrialization and revival of textile and garment industry campaigns.
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IndustrALL Global Union specifically singled out NUTGWN for commendation on its campaigns to revive the textile and garment sector through support to the Federal Government of Nigeria’s Textile and Garment Policy.
It pledges to support the union “for a sustainable policy framework for manufacturing and for the implementation of minimum wages, and the moves towards living wages and decent work”.
In the 1970s and early 1980s, Nigeria was the home to Africa’s largest textile industry with over 180 textile employing some direct 650,000 workforce and indirect millions of cotton farmers, traders and garment workers, more workforce than the Federal government! The sector which contributed over 25% of the workforce in the manufacturing sector and as much to national GDP currently employs less than 10,000 organized workforces.
The post IndustriALL Global Union lauds ex-NUTGTWN scribe appeared first on Vanguard News.
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