The Organised Labour on Tuesday kicked against the Federal Executive Council’s decision to step down the memorandum on the report of the Tripartite Committee on New National Minimum Wage.
The Head of Public Relations of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, who criticised the failure of FEC to consider the memo during Tuesday’s FEC meeting, said stepping down the tripartite committee report “creates room for injurious speculations.”
The Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, told journalists after the council meeting that the FEC stepped down the memorandum on the new minimum wage to allow for more consultations between President Bola Tinubu, state governors, local government authorities and the private sector.
Idris said the council deferred acting on the memo given that the Federal Government is not the sole stakeholder on the national minimum wage issue.
The Federal Government, Organised Private Sector and Labour had held several meetings on the new minimum wage with the NLC and Trade Union Congress leaders insisting on N250,000.
On the other hand, the Federal Government, states and the OPS made a counter-offer of N62,000.
However, the state governors argued that they would not sustain any minimum wage higher than N60,000.
The Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said Labour would not accept the latest offer of N62,000 and the N100,000 proposal made by some individuals and economists.
The NLC President, Joe Ajaero, said the unionists were waiting on the President to consider Labour’s proposal.
But speaking at the opening of the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria in Abuja, the information minister emphasised the imperative of a realistic wage system that could safeguard against mass retrenchment while addressing workers’ needs.
FG faults NLC
Idris argued that the N250,000 minimum wage proposal could undermine the economy, lead to mass retrenchment of workers and jeopardise the welfare of Nigerians.
But in his Democracy Day broadcast, the President promised to forward a bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly soon.
He told governors and members of the National Assembly on the occasion of the nation’s 25th Democracy Day anniversary at the State House that his administration would pay whatever it could afford as the new minimum wage.
This statement drew the anger of Labour, which insisted that the political office-holders should also be paid the minimum wage.The Senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, said, “The President will likely send the minimum wage bill after the Sallah break.”The Senate had adjourned plenary for the Sallah break and is due to resume on July 2.But the then acting President of the NLC, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, said Labour would not accept the N62,000 proposed by the government and OPS, advising the President to pay workers a living wage and ignore those he described as sycophants.He also refuted insinuations that a consensus had been reached between the Federal Government and Labour on the new wage.On Monday, the NLC President, Ajaero, mentioned that Organised Labour expected Tinubu to reach out to the members of the tripartite committee to harmonise the figure, given the stalemate at the end of the committee meeting.
Addressing State House correspondents after Tuesday’s FEC meeting, the information minister, Idris, explained that the President needed to interact with other wage-paying entities to factor their contributions and circumstances into the executive bill on minimum wage that would be passed on to the National Assembly for passage into law.
He stated, “I want to inform Nigerians here that the Federal Executive Council deliberated on that (minimum wage) and the decision is that because the new national minimum wage is not just that of the Federal Government, it is an issue that involves the Federal Government, the state governments, local governments, and the organised private sector and of course, including the organised labour.
“That memo was stepped down to enable Mr President to consult further, especially with the state governors and the organised private sector, before he makes a presentation to the National Assembly before an executive bill is presented to the National Assembly.
“So I want to state that on the new national minimum wage, Mr President is going to consult further so that he can have an informed position because the new national minimum wage, as I said, is not just an issue of the Federal Government.”
He said the President studied the report and will “consult wider before a final submission is made to the National Assembly.”
Reacting to the FEC’s decision, the NLC spokesman, Upah, declared that stepping down the minimum wage memo did not bode well for workers.
When asked if the decision to postpone the consideration of the minimum wage memo was a waste of time, he responded, “Definitely, stepping down the minimum wage memo does not bode well with or for us. It creates room for injurious speculations.”
The Deputy National President of the TUC, Tommy Etim, said he expected the President to address the ‘grey areas’ ahead of the transmission of the executive bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly.
“I want to believe that the government is very conscious of the grey areas which organised labour has pointed at, especially the amount to be accepted by every party involved, the frequency of review and criteria for the review and application.
“These, amongst others, are the burning issues which to the best of my knowledge need to be addressed before its consideration by FEC to the National Assembly,’’ he noted.
OPS warns Labour
Meanwhile, the OPS on Tuesday reiterated its warning that any approval of a new national minimum wage that is above N62,000 could spark an industrial crisis and lead to job losses.
It said an upward review by the President might lead to non-compliance by employers which could lead to a series of industrial actions by aggrieved employees.
The Director-General of the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association, Adewale Oyerinde, stated this while speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the Third Nigeria Employers Summit on ‘Economic Renaissance Harnessing Government Reforms and Private Sector Agility,’ in Abuja.
