THE Federal Government and the organised Labour, led by the Nigeria
Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), will meet
today to work out modalities to negotiate the new minimum wage proposal
submitted by Labour.
The NLC and TUC had, on May 1, jointly proposed N56,000 as new
national minimum wage, since the existing wage was due for review on the
basis of the extant Labour law.
The Federal Government had also resolved to set up a joint government, labour committee to begin negotiation.
Speaking to journalists in Abuja, on Monday, the NLC president,
Comrade Ayuba Wabba, described the
meeting as “a right step in the right
direction,” saying the negotiation was long overdue.
“We have submitted that demand; as I speak with you, the negotiation
committee has not even taken off, but what I was informed two days ago,
since I had discussion with various people driving the process from the
side of government, is that there will be meeting tomorrow (today),”
Wabba said.
He, however, explained that delay in negotiation and inaugurating the
minimum wage committee was caused by the palliative committee promised
by the government to cushion the effect of fuel price increase.
“I think they said because of the issue of the minimum wage and
palliative put together, it took time to do certain things and the
committee members are supposed to arrive today and even meet tomorrow
(today); three of my deputies are there.
“They said they want to hand over everything so that the committee
can then be approved, including the palliative, by the Federal
Government, because it is a technical committee headed by some ministers
and our
Labour centres. What I was informed is that the report is
supposed to be submitted within the week because the Labour side would
be meeting today (Monday).
“They will then meet with government side tomorrow (today). They want
to tidy up the report, including the membership of the team that is
supposed to negotiate the minimum wage,” he said.
According to Wabba, it was unfortunate that the sitting of the
committee had been dragged for too long, saying a lot of time had been
lost which had also compounded the situation.
“Workers are on a daily basis being exposed and the purchasing power is going down, especially the issue of the exchange rate.
“They will be meeting tomorrow (today), and they are also trying to
round up because they said they want the report to go to the Presidency
for formal approval because, at the end of the day, the president must
be involved. I want to assure you that we have not relented,” Wabba
added.
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