The general strike of 1945 and the Tudor-Davies Commission (2)

Continued from yesterday

The assemblage authorities did not instrumentality the wide onslaught lying down. It employed tactics of misinformation with the assistance of the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM). Dr. Akintola Maja, the NYM President, acceptable up a “Maja Peace Committee” to person workers to extremity the strike. Trade national leaders were arrested. When this failed to halt the strike, the assemblage authorities reaffirmed its determination to sack each striking workers aft August 1, 1945. A wide workers gathering was called to sermon the government’s latest threat.

The ex-Joint Executive members and their supporters who wanted to terminate the onslaught enactment were a minority. Hence, it was determined that the onslaught would proceed contempt the government’s menace of dismissal. However, the actions of the mean commercialized national leaders was starring to disunity among the workers. Hence, connected August 4th, the wide onslaught was terminated successful Lagos.

Workers successful the provincial cities refused to judge that the onslaught enactment had been terminated by Lagos workers due to the fact that of the anterior misinformation by the assemblage government. In Zaria, the workers garbage to spell backmost to enactment until Michael Imoudu travelled down determination himself to pass the workers that quality of the termination of the onslaught enactment was not conscionable different authorities originated propaganda designed to marque them capitulate. The wide onslaught yet ended successful each parts of the state connected August 15, 1945 and resulted successful much than 2 cardinal mandays lost.

In the dialog pursuing the wide strike, the assemblage authorities rejected the workers’ request for 50 per cent COLAs. Instead, the authorities offered a 20 per cent summation successful COLAs to Lagos nationalist assemblage workers, smaller COLAs increases to nationalist assemblage workers successful the provincial cities and a minimum regular wage of 2s. 3d. for unskilled nationalist assemblage workers. It told the workers’ representatives that if they rejected this offer, past it would retreat the connection and notation the substance to a committee of enquiry. The workers’ representatives rejected the connection aft consultations with commercialized national leaders and fertile and record workers. The assemblage authorities truthful established a committee of enquiry successful October of 1945.

This committee became known arsenic the Tudor-Davies Commission. The authorities did not retreat its archetypal connection aft the workers’ representatives rejected it. Rather, it granted the workers a 20% summation successful COLAs and a minimum wage of 2s. 3d. back­dated to August 1, 1945. The mandays mislaid during the onslaught were dis­carded arsenic permission days without wage by the assemblage government. Thus, the workers won a COLAs and wage summation aft the wide strike. These gains accrued aft the Tudor-Davies Commission finished its enquiry into the effects of the warfare inflation.

The presumption of notation of the Tudor-Davies Commission were: “To see the practice made by the Nigerian Government and Native Authority employees concerning an summation successful the Cost of Living and, having respect to the contiguous outgo of liv­ing and each different factors, to marque recommendations arsenic to whether immoderate enactment should beryllium taken by the Nigerian Government, whether by saltation of the Cost of Living Allowance oregon by controlling the outgo of surviving oregon immoderate different way, and to marque recommendations arsenic to the aboriginal compilation and computation of outgo of surviving indices successful Nigeria.”

In its report, the Tudor Davies committee stated that the assemblage authorities should person kept its 1942 committedness to reappraisal the outgo of living. It rejected the government’s arguments of wage-push ostentation and constricted authorities revenue. It decided that the constricted quality of the authorities gross did not negate the validity of the workers’ assertion for accrued COLAs. It advised the authorities to alteration its priorities with regards to the allocation of authorities gross truthful that it could wage the accrued COLAs without raising taxes. It pointed retired that the authorities has paid COLA to European workers. The committee recommended a 50 per cent summation successful COLAs for each nationalist assemblage workers (African Staff) with yearly wages of little than £220 and a reappraisal of COLAs each 2 years. Finally, the committee concluded that “It is evident that the power and powerfulness of the Nigerian Trade Unions for bully oregon sick should not beryllium underestimated, for if their organisational spot – fiscal and numerical – is small, what whitethorn beryllium termed their operational spot is great.”

The assemblage authorities accepted the recommendations and implemented them. It besides established Wage Councils to find aboriginal wage awards and a National Negotiating Committee to settee concern disputes successful the nationalist assemblage by arbitration. Rent Assessment Boards were fixed much powers to enforce stricter rent power measures. The authorities appointed a Registrar of Trade Unions to supervise the maturation of the commercialized unions and hired a erstwhile British TUC subordinate arsenic a labour officer.

The 1945 wide onslaught frankincense brought economical gains to the Nigerian moving class. The archetypal 20 per cent summation successful existing COLAs and a mini­mum regular wage of 2s. 3d. were followed by a 50 per cent summation successful COLAs. The income of workers accrued and this gave them the means to actu­alise their economical self-development astatine a higher level.

A nationalist wide onslaught is simply a limb successful the arsenal of Nigerian workers successful struggle. It is the humanities effect of labour to unprovoked jabs from Nigerian authorities during an inflationary economy. Given the prevailing harsh economical conditions facing workers successful the country, Nigerian workers should beryllium organized to bash the needful.
Concluded.

Agbon tin beryllium reached connected izielenagbon@yahoo.com
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