The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Friday, formally rejected the Federal Government’s recently approved N27,000 new national minimum wage for state workers.
The rejection decision was taken at the NLC Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting held at Labour House, Abuja.
The NLC president, Ayuba Wabba, told news men shortly after the meeting that the Central Working Committee deliberated on the issue of the transmission of the national minimum wage bill to the National Assembly with a view of reviewing the situation.
He said that N30,000 was agreed upon at the tripartite negotiating meeting to be the new minimum wage and was out of place for that figure to be reduced to N27,000.
Wabba said, ”Going by the convention of the International Labour Organisation, the figure that was agreed by the tripartite committee cannot be changed by any of the parties except through a process. Government as an employer cannot unilaterally change the figure.
“This is about law and procedure, therefore, the CWC frowned on that and rejected the issue of reducing the figure. We still maintain that we stand on the outcome of the tripartite committee.”
The NLC president threatened to mobilize workers and engage the National Assembly on the issue, adding that the negotiation must be respected and NASS should do the needful to uplift it.
Wabba said, “We have put our members on the alert that if that is not done, certainly we will also mobilize to take appropriate action that is desirable to protect and ensure that the tripartite process be respected. That has been the process according to the provision of ILO convention on minimum wage mechanism.”
He said that the Congress has also agreed that on Monday, it will mobilise workers to the House of Representatives during the public hearing on the bill to ensure that the right thing is done.
He noted that the National Assembly members represent the people and enjoined them to respect the outcome of the tripartite process, saying ”when you look at N30,000, it is a compromised position in the context of today’s economy of Nigeria. We should be commended. As far back as 2011, the N18,000 minimum wage was equivalent to $150, today, the N30,000 is less than $100. We juxtapose this argument within the content of reality and demand that what was mutually agreed after all other factors have been put into consideration, including the ability to pay, must be respected.”
Comment here