The organised labour made up of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, has cancelled a strike planned for tomorrow, Tuesday, to demand a new national minimum wage.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, announced this on Monday during the ongoing International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
Ajaero stated that organised labour cannot go on strike tomorrow since the data supplied by the Tritiparte committee on the minimum wage is with President Bola Tinubu.
He mentioned that the submission of N62,000 as proposed by the government and the organised employers’ body with labour proposals
N250,000 does not translate to labour accepting N62,000 as the new minimum wage.
He said, “The tripartite committee submitted two figures to the President. The government and employers proposed N62,000 while labour
proposed N250,00o. We are waiting for the decision of the president. Our National Executive Council (NEC) will deliberate on the
new figure when it is out.
“We cannot declare a strike now because the figures are with the president. We will wait for the President’s decision.
“During the tenure of the immediate past president, the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee, but he
increased it to N30,000. We are hopeful that this president will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf.”
The NLC president also criticised state governors under the umbrella body of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for rejecting the N62,000 minimum wage proposal.
He said, “How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralisation of the minimum wage.
“Are wages decentralized? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable internally generated revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.
“They should decentralise their salaries and emoluments first.
“So, where is the governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, getting his money from? He is paying the N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated, not the lazy ones.”
