Some state governors and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) appear to be on a fresh collision course over the N30,000 minimum wage with several states refusing to pay on account of lack of funds.
President of the NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba, said on Saturday that the action of the affected governors was nothing but a crime.
Labour is also threatening to call out its members on a nationwide strike should the National Assembly go ahead with the proposed bill seeking to transfer minimum wage to the concurrent list.
However, President Muhammadu Buhari, on the occasion of the Workers’ Day yesterday pledged an improved package for workers to cushion the economic effects of COVID-19 on their resources.
Kano recently reverted to the old minimum wage of N18,000 per month while Kogi and Kwara are yet to implement the new minimum wage.
Wabba said on Saturday at the Workers’ Day rally in Abuja that state governors who have refused to pay the new minimum wage and consequential increase in salaries were committing a crime.
He deplored the recent mass sack and casualization of more than 60 per cent of the workforce in Kaduna State by the state government.
Labour noted that the Governor El-Rufai led administration has sacked 30,000 workers since it assumed of power in 2015.
General Secretary, Amalgamated Union of Public Corporations, Civil Service Technical and Recreational Services Employees (AUPCTRE), Comrade Sikiru Waheed, said his union would support the decision of the Congress on the fate of workers in Kaduna.
He said the mass sack “has no doubt contributed to the case of insecurity in Kaduna State and its neighbouring states of Niger, FCT and Kogi.”
Wabba vowed that labour would resist attempt to re-classify the power to negotiate the minimum wage.
“There have been attempts by a section the ruling class to remove the national minimum wage from the Exclusive Legislative list to the concurrent list,” he said.
“This is condemnable. The national minimum wage is a global standard.
“Therefore, we are reinforcing our earlier position to state that Nigerian workers will not allow a situation where the progress we have made for the past 40 years to be taken by these group of politicians.
“We are going to insist that any day that this law is considered by any of the chambers, Nigerian workers are going to withdraw their services.”
He also said Kaduna workers would withdraw their services for five days in protest of the sacking of workers by the Kaduna State Government.
If the workers are not reinstated, Mr Wabba stressed, there will be a total shutdown.
President Buhari, who was represented by Labour and Employment Minister Chris Ngige, said government has put in place some socio-economic policies to alleviate poverty.
Buhari said the Federal Government has expanded the Conditional Cash Transfer for the vulnerable poor from 2.6 million households to 7.6 million.
Besides, the COVID-19 Rapid Response Register has been expanded for urban poor to 4.8 million households.
The president also said his administration intends to expand the N-Power programme from the present 500,000 to 1 million persons and that the Central Bank of Nigeria has activated its programme in agriculture and manufacturing.
He urged to “let us continue to work together for the good of our country – Nigeria.”
He added: “We may have our little differences, but I believe that even irreconcilable differences can be eventually reconciled, for redemption brings reconciliation greatly needed to eschew hatred and ranchor and move our country forward in truth and honesty.
“As we build back to better the hazards caused by COVID-19 pandemic, I pray that the spirit of social dialogue will continue to exist and grow amongst the Tripartite stakeholders in the world of work and that our gains consequently will be immense,” President Buhari said.
