NLC’s Ayuba Wabba to Ngige: No further negotiations
BY TAIWO FAROTIMI
The government and organised labour are still at daggers drawn over the new minimum wage. The refusal of labour to attend a meeting called for the office of the secretary to the government of the federation, SGF by 6:00 pm Sunday appears to be the beginning of the fresh disagreement.
Labour believes that the Sunday meeting was needless, in view of another one called for 11:00 am on Monday. It therefore faults the information put out by Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment that the tripartite committee, which includes organised labour and the government will resume discussions Sunday on the contentious issue of minimum wage for Nigerian workers. That is despite the face off between government and labour over the figure agreed on.
Labour suspects that the government was not being sincere on the minimum wage issue, because while labour was meeting in a Lagos hotel to deliberate on the conflicting positions in government over the wage, the federal government got an injunction from the National Industrial Court stopping Labour from embarking on the nationwide strike planned to commence on Tuesday November 6.
An apparently angry labour, while saying it had not been served any order, said it would go ahead with the strike. Labour has been battling with efforts by the executive to backdown on N30,000 agreed on after almost one year of negotiations. The Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF had said that the states could only pay N22,500. That came after an initial offer of N20,000 was rejected.
The argument of the governors is that even at N18,000 a greater number of the 36 states of the federation are not able to pay workers. An increase to N30,000 , they therefore argue, will only make the situation worse.
Speaking at a separate forum, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State said only eight states will be able to pay N30,000 if the Labour insists. He likened the situation to a deliberate burden on an old woman who was already having difficulty walking under the weight of the current load on her and would probably break down if an extra burden is added. Though he didn’t mention the states that may be able to pay the new wage, governors of Edo and Bayelsa, Godwin Obaseki and Seriake Dickson respectively had said they would be willing pay.
Now labour has said it would not partake in any further negotiations or meetings, except one in which the tripartite committee would be presenting the report of the committee to President Muhammadu Buhari.
