Labour leaders on Thursday, told the Federal Government that it must submit the tripartite committee report on N30,000 minimum wage to the National Assembly on or before December 31, 2018.
The three labour unions, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Trade Union Congress, TUC and the United Labour Congress, ULC, issued the ultimatum at the end of a joint meeting in Lagos.
Labour’s decision followed President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement during the presentation of the 2019 Appropriation Bill before the National Assembly that a “high powered technical committee” would be set up to look into ways of implementing the new minimum wage to ensure it did not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.
Addressing journalists on Thursday, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, insisted that setting up a committee could not be a condition for passing the minimum wage report to the National Assembly.
According to Wabba, the organised labour cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony in the country if the wage report was not passed for implementation on or before Dec. 31.
“We reject in its entirety the plan to set up another `high powered technical committee’ on the minimum wage. It is diversionary and a delay tactics. “The national minimum wage committee was both technical and all-encompassing in its compositions and plan. To set up another technical committee is alien to the tripartite process.
“It is also alien to the International Labour Organisations’ conventions on national minimum wage setting mechanism,’’ he said.
Wabba noted that issues on payment of minimum wage was a universal law citing that other African countries like, Kenya, Ghana and South Africa had increased their minimum wage this year. “If you increase minimum wage, you are increasing the purchasing power of the economy which will help to reduce inflation rather than increase it,’’ he said.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: National Industrial Court restrains PASAN from proceeding on strike
He urged workers to be vigilant and prepare to campaign and vote against candidates and politicians who are not willing to implement the new minimum wage.
President of ULC, Joe Ajaero, also called on the government to send the report to lawmakers to avoid more delay in the implementation of the new minimum wage report.
Ajaero said that all affiliate members of the organised labour had been informed to be alert ahead of the Dec. 31 notice if the government failed to submit the report.
The organised labour had planned to go on a nationwide strike on Nov. 6, following the Federal Government’s delay to accept the N30,000 minimum wage agreement.
NAN
