NIGERIAN WORKERS REJECT NATIONAL COUNCIL OF STATES MINIMUM WAGE OFFER

The Trade Union Congress (TUC) statement signed by the Chairman, Kaigama Bobboi, noted that the Council of State’s decision though advisory is weighty and may give a semblance of authority to the decision.

Penpushing further reports that, he declared that the decision must not be allowed to stand because it will set the wrong precedent for the future, adding that, “after statutory bodies have done their jobs, Council of State will now sit to review it,”.

”The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) rejects, outrightly the new National Minimum wage of N27,000 as recommended by the National Council of State, the fact that the federal government agrees to pay N30, 000 notwithstanding,” he said.

The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) boss said the N30, 000 minimum wage is a product of negotiation, not legislation, not advice and not a decree.

Similarly, the United Labour Congress ( ULC) President, Joe Ajaero, in his statement, said the National Council of State’s decision is shocking, stressing that, ”ULC rising from its just-concluded Central Working Committee (CWC) meeting today in Lagos rejects in its entirety the proposed N27,000 which is contrary to the N30,000 agreed by the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Committee and which has since been submitted to the President,”.

Penpushing also reports that, Ajaero said the National Council of States does not have powers to approve, confirm, affirm or accept any figure as the new National Minimum Wage, arguing that it is a mockery of the essence and principle behind the setting of a National Minimum Wage to attempt to segregate it between federal workers and state workers.

”We want to state that workers are workers everywhere whether at the federal level or at the state level. They all have the same challenges; go to the same market, same schools and much more they suffer the same fate. You cannot, therefore, pay them differently,” he said.

The labour leader said the dichotomy between the federal and state workers is an attempt to put a sword within the trade union movement and to further the marginalisation of private sector workers in Nigeria.

“We will however in the next few days in consultation with other Labour Centres if they are still in the struggle for a just national minimum wage take steps to ensure that the interests of Nigerian workers as it concerns the National Minimum Wage are protected,” he said.

Penpushing further reports that, Ajaero called on President Muhammadu Buhari to disregard the pronouncement of the National Council of State stating that it ridicules the statutes and principles governing the nation.

“The only honourable path he should tread is to transmit the N30,000 figure as agreed by the Tripartite Committee and even the President on the day of submission of the committee’s report,” he said.

Penpushing recalled that ,General Secretary of Nigeria Labour Congress(NLC) Peter Ozo-Eson earlier in the day  also rejected the N27,000 new National Minimum Wage adopted by the Council of State, declaring that the  council has no jurisdiction to determine another amount after a Tripartite Committee has submitted its report.

“It is abysmal of government to be delaying the submission of an Executive Bill to the National Assembly and by wrongfully adopting N27,000 through the council of state,” he said.

He disclosed that, the labour congress has called an emergency National Executive Council meeting for Friday to review the deadline given to government to submit an executive bill to the National Assembly for a N30,000 minimum wage.

Penpushing also recalled that, the organised labour had threatened to embark on strike if  the government fails to transmit the bill, while the Federal Government on January 8 picked January 23 as a date for the transmission of a bill for a new national minimum wage, a step  aimed at stopping the workers  from starting a strike about a month before the Presidential election.