The organized labour on Wednesday gave the Federal Government two-week ultimatum for finalizing the ongoing discussions on the New Minimum Wage to avoid industrial crisis.
The labour leaders, who are members of the Minimum Wage Committee at a joint news conference in Lagos, charged the government to ensure that the committee concludes its work within the two-week period or be ready to face industrial action.
Speaking on the position of the labour groups, the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba , said that the committee was not happy with the comments attributed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, on the minimum wage issue.
According to him, the minister was reported to have said last week that the committee should adjourn indefinitely to enable him further consult with the government on the salaries matter.
Wabba said: ”We view his supposed pronouncement with great concern, suspicion and outrage. This new antic certainly is not acceptable to Nigerian workers, who had expected a New National Minimum Wage since 2016”
The NLC President recalled that in the course of the meeting, the committee members had time to consult and receive memoranda and inputs from 21 state governments, specialized agencies of the Federal Government, the Organized Private Sector, Organised Labour and the general public.
Wabba therefore maintained that the minister’s latest action was uncalled for.
Similarly, the President of the United Labour Congress, (ULC), Comrade Joe Ajaero, maintained that issues concerning the minimum wage had been concluded and that the committee was expecting governments’ representatives to pronounce their own figure.
Ajaero stressed that the call for a new minimum wage became necessary because it was already overdue, and in view of the increasing cost of goods and services.
