Labour submits fresh demand for higher minimum wage

The organised labour has submitted a fresh demand for higher
minimum wage to the tripartite committee on minimum wage.

The Nigeria Labour Congress stated that it had demanded above
N56,000 to the committee to reflect inflation and other economic
realities in the country.

The acting NLC President, Kiri Mohammed, disclosed this at the
11th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Civil Service
Union on Thursday in Abuja.

Mohammed, who declined to mention the exact figure the organised
labour was demanding, explained that it was a joint decision
between the NLC and the Trade Union Congress.

He said, “We submitted our request, NLC has decided to look at
the figure and modify it, we actually modified it, an upward review
above N56,000, but I am not going to tell you how much because the
president (Ayuba Wabba) is supposed to say it.

“We have submitted it to the secretariat of the tripartite
committee. The review is in conjunction with the TUC. You can’t do
it alone, all of us met and decided to put heads together and look
at the realities on the ground.”

Reacting to reports that the new minimum wage might not be paid
this year because it was not captured in the 2018 budget, the NLC
chief expressed confidence that the minimum wage bill would be
passed by the National Assembly and implemented by the Federal
Government.

Mohammed explained that the government would implement the
recommendations of the tripartite committee on minimum wage,
stressing that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to
implementing the outcomes of the ongoing negotiations for new wages
for workers.

He said, “Who made the budget? I believe if they (government)
are serious, we can finish this matter towards the middle of this
year, June, July.

“If we can finish at that time, then before the end of the year,
certainly the President must send whatever we agreed to the
National Assembly for them to look at it and for him to assent it
as a law, but I know that once we agreed, government would
implement whatever is agreed.”

The acting NLC President, however, complained about the slow
pace of negotiations by the tripartite committee, noting that it
had not held any meeting since it was inaugurated.

“We had an inaugural meeting and they have not called for a
meeting, I won’t call it a deliberate delay, but it looks as if
there is a deliberate delay. We have not started discussion or
anything,” Mohammed said.

The organised labour has submitted a fresh demand for higher
minimum wage to the tripartite committee on minimum wage.

The Nigeria Labour Congress stated that it had demanded above
N56,000 to the committee to reflect inflation and other economic
realities in the country.

The acting NLC President, Kiri Mohammed, disclosed this at the
11th Quadrennial Delegates Conference of the Nigeria Civil Service
Union on Thursday in Abuja.

Mohammed, who declined to mention the exact figure the organised
labour was demanding, explained that it was a joint decision
between the NLC and the Trade Union Congress.

He said, “We submitted our request, NLC has decided to look at
the figure and modify it, we actually modified it, an upward review
above N56,000, but I am not going to tell you how much because the
president (Ayuba Wabba) is supposed to say it.

“We have submitted it to the secretariat of the tripartite
committee. The review is in conjunction with the TUC. You can’t do
it alone, all of us met and decided to put heads together and look
at the realities on the ground.”

Reacting to reports that the new minimum wage might not be paid
this year because it was not captured in the 2018 budget, the NLC
chief expressed confidence that the minimum wage bill would be
passed by the National Assembly and implemented by the Federal
Government.

Mohammed explained that the government would implement the
recommendations of the tripartite committee on minimum wage,
stressing that President Muhammadu Buhari was committed to
implementing the outcomes of the ongoing negotiations for new wages
for workers.

He said, “Who made the budget? I believe if they (government)
are serious, we can finish this matter towards the middle of this
year, June, July.

“If we can finish at that time, then before the end of the year,
certainly the President must send whatever we agreed to the
National Assembly for them to look at it and for him to assent it
as a law, but I know that once we agreed, government would
implement whatever is agreed.”

The acting NLC President, however, complained about the slow
pace of negotiations by the tripartite committee, noting that it
had not held any meeting since it was inaugurated.

“We had an inaugural meeting and they have not called for a
meeting, I won’t call it a deliberate delay, but it looks as if
there is a deliberate delay. We have not started discussion or
anything,” Mohammed said.