The Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage said at the weekend that organised labour should reconsider the amount it is demanding as national minimum wage, based on current realities.
Chairman of the committee, Goni Aji, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja that labour should exercise more flexibility in its negotiation, based on current economic considerations and non-monetary incentives, which the federal government had so far provided for workers.
However, a chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Sunny Onuesoke, berated labour, claiming Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) have been selfish in their negotiation for minimum wage for workers.
Onuesoke said at the weekend in Asaba that the labour unions had ignored the effect of their wage demand on private sector workers and people in the informal sector, who he said formed the largest workforce in the country.
Aji listed government’s recent incentives for workers to include N35,000 wage award for all treasury-paid federal workers, N100 billion for the procurement of gas-fuelled busses, and conversion to gas kits.
He stated that the others were N125 billion conditional grant, financial inclusion to small and medium scale enterprises, and N25,000 each to be shared to 15 million households for three months.
According to him, the N185 billion palliative loans to states to cushion the effects of fuel subsidy removal and the N200 billion to support the cultivation of hectares of land to boost food production, should also be taken into consideration by organised labour.
The tripartite committee chairman said there was another N75 billion to strengthen the manufacturing sector and N1 trillion student loans for higher education. He also cited the release of 42,000 metric tonnes of grains from strategic reserves and the purchase and distribution of 60,000 metric tonnes of rice to the millers’ association.
Aji urged organised labour to consider the recent salary increase of 25 per cent and 35 per cent on all consolidated salary structures for federal workers and the 90 per cent subsidy on health costs for federal civil servants registered on the health insurance programme and accept the N62,000 being offered by the federal government.
He maintained that the light rail commissioned in Abuja was to relieve transportation costs until the end of the year, stating that it is a landmark achievement that would cushion the effect of the removal of fuel subsidy.
Aji said in addition to “the freedom of civil servants to engage in agriculture, the federal government has approved the inclusion of ICT services for alternate sources of income”.
He said the committee agreed that where major and small businesses were closing down with the consequent loss of jobs, the outcome of a new minimum wage should be such that it would not trigger further massive job losses.
He further said linking the strike due to electricity hikes with the wage determination was not fair to the negotiating parties.
Organised labour had demanded N250,000 as minimum wage per month. However, the federal government and Organised Private Sector (OPS) offered N62,000 per month.
Labour also faulted a recent statement by President Bola Tinubu during a meeting with some governors and members of the National Assembly on the occasion of the country’s 25th Democracy Day anniversary. Tinubu had said the government would only be able to pay its workers what the country could afford.
The president said, “Senate President, Deputy Senate President, you will get a notice from me if I have changed my mind on minimum wage. We are going to do it, what Nigeria can afford, what you can afford, what I can afford. They ask you to cut your coat according to your size if you have size at all.”
Organised labour began the minimum wage negotiation with a demand for over N615,000, which it later slashed to N250,000. But the federal government initially said it could only pay N48,000, an amount that was increased to N62,000, and now awaiting presidential decision.
Onuesoke accused labour of selfishness in their negotiation for minimum wage for workers.
The former Delta State governorship aspirant told journalists that organised labour had engaged in reckless agitation by trying to force the federal government to succumb to their terms.
He alleged that organised labour acted like politicians, stressing that their obnoxious demand would hurt the common man, who does not earn a salary or wage, and those in the private sector, including traders, artisans, and those in the rural areas, which constitute the largest labour force in the country.
Onuesoke stated that labour should review their demand by considering the plight of the larger percentage of Nigerians who were not on the payroll of government. He said this percentage constituted the largest population of the workforce in Nigeria compared to those working for the government, who were less than one per cent of the entire Nigerian population.
The PDP chieftain stated that organised labour should have focused their agitation on how the federal government could reduce inflation and the prices of goods and services.
Onuesoke stated, “TUC and NLC are selfish. They are the same thing with the political leadership. They are agitating for the increment of their wage. What happens to the private sector, the traders, artisans and even the unemployed Nigerians roaming our streets? Who is going to increase their wages? They forget that once there is wage increase there will be hyperinflation.
“Why are they agitating for themselves salary increment, like the way our lawmakers are agitating for their own salaries and allowances increase? How many salary increases did they agitate for traders, private sector, artisans and the unemployed among others?
“I expected them to agitate on how the federal government can reduce inflation or how the prices of goods and services should be reduced, instead of agitating for wage increment for themselves alone at the expense of the larger population of Nigerians.”
Emmanuel Addeh, Chuks Okocha
and Sylvester Idowu
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