The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) on Thursday in Abuja gave the Federal Government two weeks to implement the minimum wage or face resistance.
The NLC National President, Abulawaheed Omar, announced the ultimatum at a joint news briefing of the two unions, saying any other proposal short of the N18,000 minimum wage was unacceptable. He said the reluctance of government to implement the minimum wage had caused the delay in its
implementation by the private sector. “We have come to the sad realisation that no level of government has implemented the law, be it federal, state or local governments, in spite of the law coming into effect since March 2011. “In the case of the Federal Government, the Salaries and Wages Commission has been unable to and /or unwilling to produce a table for the implementation to Federal public servants, and so government has not implemented the law,” he said.He said the state governments that had refused to implement the new wage were violating the law, adding that some governors were blackmailing others that were willing to pay. Mr Omar said the Nigeria Governors Forum’s idea of introducing a review of the revenue allocation formula as a prerequisite for the implementation of the minimum wage was to introduce a strange element into the process.
“The issue of new revenue allocation formula, which requires constitutional amendment to achieve, has been touted to be a condition precedent to implementing the minimum wage. We find this as laughable and completely unacceptable as the law is clear and unambiguous. All stakeholders were party to the formulation of the law and we know that they can pay the N18, 000 minimum wage. “Secondly, the introduction of the oil subsidy argument is essentially asking government to increase the prices of petroleum products and further impoverish our people,” he said.
Mr Omar said the NLC has rejected any condition attached to the implementation, adding that it would never support any action geared toward increase in fuel price.
“Our attention has also been drawn to the fact that some state governors are applying intimidation and timid compromise on the workers leadership in their states by threatening mass sack and high taxation. “We hereby serve notice that any state government that indulges in this or induces an illicit agreement to pay less than N18,000, will have to contend with a most robust form of resistance ever in the annals of workers solidarity in our country,” he added.
He called on the public and private sectors to begin immediately sensitising and mobilisation workers for a nationwide strike at the expiration of the ultimatum.
The TUC President, Peter Esele, said the move by some state governments had shown a lack of respect for the minimum wage law.
He said the governors were part of the negotiation, saying: “We expect them to go ahead and implement the N18,000 minimum wage immediately.”
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