Organised labour on Thursday, said that the threat by governors to retrench workers if the proposed N30,000 wage agreed upon by the Tripartite Committee is implemented was uncalled for and tantamount to reneging on a joint agreement.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) maintained that the governors threat to sack workers was not new in the struggle for revision of the national minimum wage over the years, maintaininh that the N30,000 recommended by the committee was a product of intense and robust negotiations that spanned over one year.
The NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, in a statement issued in response to the governors’ latest complaints on the wage matter, advised workers to ignore the statement credited to the Chairman of NGF and Zamfara State governor, Abdulaziz Yari , on the decisions reached at the NGF’s emergency meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, in which he claimed that paying the N30,000 minimum wage would make states go bankrupt.
Yari, told journalists at the end of the meeting that only Lagos State can afford the new wage regime if implemented and claimed that other states were finding it difficult to even pay the old N18,000 minimum wage.
Wabba took a swipe at the NGF chairman, stating that the governors are part of the negotiations that lasted for about a year before the latest N30,000 proposed wage was arrived at.
He clarified: “The attention of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Organized Labour, the Working Class, Pensioners and their families have been drawn to a statement credited to the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), Alhaji AbdulazizYari, the Governor of Zamfara State threatening to sack workers on the account of the New National Minimum Wage of N30,000.
“It would interest Nigerians to know that the New National Minimum Wage of N30,000 was a product of intense and robust negotiations at the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee that lasted for one year between November 2017 to November 2018.
“At the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee, State governments were represented by six states, one state from each of the six geo-political zones of Nigeria. A letter was sent by the Tripartite Committee to every state to send in their memorandum as their input to the national minimum wage negotiations. It is on record that 21 States responded by sending memoranda with figures.
“Subsequently, public hearings were conducted in each of the geo-political zones in the country. The State governments were all represented at the zonal hearings and made their input to discussions towards a new national minimum wage.
“The demand of organized labour was N66,500. From the memoranda submitted to the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee by State governments, there were proposals by some states to even pay higher than the negotiated national minimum wage of N30,000.
“After extended and extensive negotiations by the Tripartite Committee, a final compromise figure of N30,000 was agreed by all the partners – Government, Organized Labour and Employers in the Private Sector.
“This agreement took on board prevailing economic indices and factors especially as outlined in Convention 131 and Recommendation 95 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention on Criteria and Procedure for Collective Bargaining especially towards arriving at a National Minimum Wage for any country”, Wabba maintained.
He stated further that it was based on the agreement that the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee concluded its work and submitted its report to the President on the 6th of November, 2018, thereby ending the process of negotiations for a new national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
Wabba noted that the statement credited to AbdulazizYari purportedly for the Nigeria Governors Forum, one year after the inauguration of the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee, was certainly an after-thought and had no place in the collective bargaining process.
The NLC President also stated that the NGF chairman’s position was at the instance of a few anti-worker governors, adding that the organized labour was not in any doubt that many worker-friendly governors are ready to pay even higher than the negotiated N30,000 new national minimum wage.
He pointed out that in view of the foregoing, organized labour wishes to firmly reiterate that “the process of negotiation by the tripartite social partners for a new N30,000 national minimum wage had ended and agreed upon by government, labour and employers in the private sector.
Wabba stated: “The 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended) recognizes individual states in the Collective Bargaining Process NOT Nigeria Governors Forum. The states, like the other social partners, have already defended their positions during negotiations at the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee vis-à-vis counter proposals.
“The threat to sack workers is not new in the struggle for review of the national minimum wage in Nigeria. Therefore, the current one by the Governor of Zamfara State cannot be used to intimidate labour. The consequences of workers retrenchment are too grievous for any political office holder truly elected by the people to contemplate.
“We propose that since a few political office holders are bent on enslaving Nigerian workers with peanuts mislabeled as salaries, we urge such elected public officials to subject their humungous salaries and allowances, reputed to be among the highest in the world, pro rata with the minimum wage they want to force down the throats of Nigerian workers.
“We, therefore, urge each State Governor to go to their respective states and inform workers and their families their individual position on the new national minimum wage of N30,000;
“Alhaji Abdulaziz Yari should desist from using the platform of the Nigeria Governors Forum to seek political relevance. His tactics of blackmail against workers is already time worn and the stench is already offensive;
“The leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress and Organized Labour urge workers to remain steadfast and firm on our rights to decent wages and improved living conditions. To the oppressors, we have only one answer for you – We will never sleep on our rights!
“We hereby reiterate our directive to Nigerian workers to vote out any politician or political party that refuses to pay the new national minimum wage of N30,000. We shall continue to consolidate our efforts to strengthen already existing platforms and structures to give teeth to our resolve to vote out anti-labour governors and politicians in the forthcoming 2019 general election.
“Finally, organized labour and Nigerian workers call on President Muhammadu Buhari to be wary of some people, especially in the Nigeria Governors Forum because they are … for selfish and personal reasons, to present him as an anti-worker President and by extension orchestrate anti-Buhari sentiments in the populace.
“In light of this, we call on him to speedily present to the National Assembly the bill on the National Minimum Wage for appropriate amendment and implementation”, the labour leader added.
