….As N/Assembly Mulls Legislative Solution
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has threatened to embark on a one-month strike if the minimum wage is removed from the Exclusive to Concurrent list in the Constitution by lawmakers in the National Assembly.
The latest threat of the Congress is coming ahead of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s planned meeting on Thursday with the leaders of organized labour.
The NLC President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, gave the warning on Monday while addressing participants at the opening ceremony of the 2024 annual Rain School of the NLC in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.
In addition, he warned National Assembly lawmakers on their proposed move to remove workers’ wages from the Exclusive to Concurrent list in the Constitution.
According to him, if the lawmakers go ahead with the move he will mobilize workers to protest against the proposed amendment of the Constitution and shut down Nigeria’s economy for a month.
Ajaero said” “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again.
“When they finish that meeting, they will collect minimum wage, I promise all of you that. The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month.
“Comrades, I am putting you on standby. If that committee comes up with such a policy, for one month nobody should come out. They are the major threat to democracy in this country. Democracy is not all about starving and punishing people. That’s not the democracy we fought for.
“They were not there when we fought for this democracy, and now they are trying to make laws to remove the minimum wage from the exclusive list. So, comrades, as I have talked to you here, I have talked to everybody. We are waiting for them to come up with such hypocritical laws. And from today, let them abolish the security vote”, Ajaero added.
Meanwhile, the he Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, had earlier announced that President Tinubu would meet with organized labour leaders on Thursday to finalize a decision on the country’s minimum wage issue.
The announcement was sequel to last Thursday’s decision on a harmonized minimum wage, which ended in a deadlock.
It would be recalled that the government had proposed a N62,000 minimum wage, while the organized labour groups insisted on a minimum of N250,000 wage.
