THE Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has commended the Senate for passing the new National Minimum Wage just as it called on the House of Representatives to do the same thing for the collective happiness of Nigerian workers. .
Speaking with The Guardian in Abuja yesterday, the General Secretary of NLC, John Odah, who applauded the Senate for the speed passage, urged the House of Representatives to pass the bill without delay. .
He said: “The Nigeria Labour Congress is very pleased with this development. We have toiled and struggled over the last few years to ensure that the working mass of our people earns a living wage. Even though the wage is not totally ideal yet, it is indeed a giant step from the N7,500 to N18, 000. We therefore urged the House of Representatives to follow the same path by ensuring that the bill is passed in the same urgent manner the Senate passed it. Over all, it is a welcome development.”
Odah also said that with the passage of the bill, the doubt over the ability to pay by the state government and the private sector of the economy had been laid to rest. .
“We have passed the stage where we will be discussing the ability to pay
or otherwise. When we started negotiations, we began with N52, 200 as the most realistic figure that can take care of a family that comprises a husband, wife and four children. We had to re-examine our stance when the ability to pay came in and the economic side of it.
“We then soft-pedalled into the present N18,000 which is still low but certainly represents a step going forward. At the negotiation table, the tripartite body that is made up of government, private sector and labour agreed that N18,000 was a good figure that will not be injurious to those that are paying (employers) as well as those that are receiving (workers). We do not intend to start another round of negotiation with anybody over the inability to pay the N18, 000,” he said.
He added that labour was not worried about the take-off date for the new pay.
However, he was quick to explain that labour would make its position known after the bill had been signed into law by President Goodluck Jonathan.
He said: “The argument about when the new pay should take effect is not our major concern now. We are more worried about the actual signing by the President after the passage by the two lawmaking bodies.”
The Guardian
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