By Abiola Olawale
Following talks from certain quarters that the National Assembly might be planning to introduce a bill seeking the deregulation of the minimum wage, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has issued a stern warning to lawmakers.
The Union threatened to embark on a one-month nationwide strike should the Senate and House of Representatives table any bill that would deregulate the national minimum wage.
President of NLC, Comrade Joe Ajaero, made this known while speaking on the sideline of the Union’s 67th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos state.
Ajaero also insisted that minimum wage is a national issue. According to him, organised labour would not accept a situation where governors working with the members of the National Assembly would impose wages and poverty on workers and Nigerian citizens.
He said: “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.
“The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month.
“We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it.”
The New Diplomat reports that the Federal Government is still holding talks with Labour on a possible minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
The organised private sector and government team had proposed N62,000, while labour unions demanded N250,000.
Amid the talks, the 36 governors of the federation had declined the proposal of a N60,000 minimum wage put forward by the Federal Government.
The governors expressed concerns regarding the sustainability of N60,000 minimum wage, citing potential negative impacts on the country’s overall development.
