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Tag: minimum wage

  • Minimum wage : FG, abour to reconvene Wednesday

    The Federal Government says the meeting with the Organised Labour to prevent the threat of national industrial action over non transmission of the New National Minimum Wage Bill to the National Assembly will reconvene by 1p.m on Tuesday.

    Sen. Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment, said this while speaking with newsmen at the end of a closed door meeting with organised labour on Tuesday in Abuja.

    The News The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the NLC had threatened to embark on a nationwide protest on January 8, if the Federal Government fails to transmit the bill on minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    The organised labour gave the threat following President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that a “high powered technical committee” would be set up to device ways to ensure that minimum wage implementation did not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.

    According to Ngige, we have made progress and Tuesday, we will know the definite date when the bill will be transmitted to the National Assembly.

    “It has been difficult to arrive at a date because there are processes to follow on the bill.

    “We have to go to the Federal Executive Council with a council memo on the bill after that, we will go to the National Economic Council and the Council of State.

    “But for the Council of State, the President has to look at his own time table and we will inform past Heads of State and Justice of the Federation. This can take two weeks.

    “However, we are trying to see if we can accommodate all these meetings by next week because we cannot do Council of State meeting again this week.

    “Immediately after that meeting (Council of State), we will transmit the bill,” he said.

    Also speaking, Mr Ayuba Wabba, NLC President, said that organised labour had a useful discussion with the Federal Government.

    He said that labour leaders had consulted and agreed to meet with the government on Tuesday by 1p.m to ensure that the processes for the transmission of the bill would be completed without further delay.

    ” We will surely go ahead with the mass protest nationwide on Wednesday.

    “The protest is about implementation, it has no link with the transmission. We are trying to see how the bill will be transmitted to the National Assembly.

    “The protest is about how to get all parties committed to the issue of minimum wage, it is different from how we get this bill transmitted with timeline to the national assembly,” he added.

  • Minimum Wage: NLC postpones strike, to hold nationwide protest Tuesday

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says it will on Tuesday hold a nationwide protest to drive its demand for the upward review of the national minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000.

    The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, said in a statement that there would be no strike for now.

    Ozo-Eson, therefore, asked members of the public to disregard reports that the strike would begin tomorrow.

    The statement read in part, “It has come to our attention that some sections of the news media have largely misrepresented our action plan in reaction to the delay in transmitting the recommendations of the Tripartite Committee on a new national minimum wage to the National Assembly by President Muhammadu Buhari.

    “It should be recalled that the National Executive Council of the NLC met on December 17 last year and directed that we hold nationwide mobilisation of workers and our allies if, by December 31, 2018, the bill on the national minimum wage has yet to be sent to the National Assembly to be passed as an Act of Parliament.

    “We immediately announced then that on Tuesday, January 8, 2019, there will be a nationwide mass mobilisation and protests simultaneously across all states in Nigeria. This does not translate to a strike.”

  • Minimum wage: FG, Labour meeting inconclusive, to reconvene on Monday

    Negotiation between the Federal Government and organized labour on the N30,000 minimum wage remained inconclusive at the end of another round of meeting last night in Abuja.

    Both sides are scheduled to reconvene on Monday to take a final decision on the grey areas.

    Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, told reporters at the end of a five -hour long meeting yesterday that substantial progress had been made in the discussion and that all that is left is a final resolution.

    Ngige said there was no deadlock as the two sides agreed on most of the issues tabled for discussion and only adjourned to allow for further consultations.

    He said President Muhammadu Buhari wanted the issue thrashed out and he would not have set up the tripartite committee on the minimum wage if he was not interested in the matter in the first place.

    Also speaking, NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, dismissed any idea that the meeting was deadlocked.

    His words: “The meeting decided to adjourn and reconvene on Monday for us to do further consultations before the issues are concluded. We have discussed all the issues and all the grey areas, particularly how we can ensure that the issue is put behind us.

    “That is why we took such a long time, including having a timeout to consult. But we have not been able to conclude and we have agreed to reconvene to tidy up the process.

    “The issue at stake is to make sure that the bill is transmitted and also other auxiliary issues that government says they are trying to put together. We also want to see how the money gets into the pocket of our workers because a lot of economic factors have affected the current wage.

    “But the major issue is that we have been able to have a meaningful social dialogue. But the process is not conclusive and will reconvene on Monday.

    “Monday is not too far from now since today is Friday.”

    He said the outcome of Monday’s meeting would determine whether labour would proceed with its planned rallies on Tueday.

    Continuing, he said: “Part of the report that was submitted is all inclusive of the main report and draft bill. But those processes which they need to ensure that a clean bill is transmitted to the National Assembly and what they now termed some physical issues are what we will tidy up on Monday. So, let us wait for that Monday.”

    The meeting started at about 12.50 pm with several breaks in between to allow for consultations with stakeholders including President Buhari.

    The labour leaders insisted on a definite date when the government will transmit the minimum wage bill to the National Assembly, a decision the three ministers present could not take on their own.

    Addressing the meeting earlier, Ngige said the President was committed to giving Nigerian workers a new minimum wage.

    He said however that in addressing the issue, the government wanted to ensure that the new minimum wage was sustainable.

    He said “I do realise that this is still part of the Christmas period and that people are still on holiday. You can see the two ministers in charge of government resources. The Minister of Budget and National Planning and the Minister of Finance. Mr. President specifically asked them to be part of this meeting. We had to cut short our vacation because of the need for us to discuss.

    “You know that people can go to war when there is lack of information and in the process, people can misconstrue and speculate. We called this meeting as a result of the communique issued by the Joint Labour Centres after your executive meeting in Lagos when you informed government that you are not happy with the implementation processes of the report of the tripartite committee.”

    President of the NLC, Comrade Aruba Wabba said the organised labour has always wanted all issues of industrial relations resolved through dialogue, adding that the issue on ground has nothing to do with money, but the process leading to the final outcome.

    Wabba said “Clearly, we have always believed in social dialogue in resolving industrial relations issues. From the beginning of the issue of this new national minimum wage which was legally due in 2016, labour has demonstrated enough patience and understanding and has followed all the processes to make sure that we are able to dispense with this issue.”

  • Minimum wage: Labour begins consultation, mobilisation ahead of Tuesday’s strike

    Minimum wage: Labour begins consultation, mobilisation ahead of Tuesday’s strike

    The organised labour on Friday said it has started mobilisation of members ahead of the January 8 strike over payment of the agreed N30,000 New Minimum Wage.

    A News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who visited some of the labour unions in Lagos gathered that workers had been informed on the strategic roles to play while awaiting further instructions.

    NAN reports that the three labour bodies, the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress of Nigeria and the United Labour Congress had met on December 20, 2018.

    The organised labour had given the Federal Government on or before December 31, 2018 to submit the Tripartite Committee Report on the N30,000 minimum wage to the National Assembly or face strike.

    NAN reports that labour suspended its national strike on the minimum wage about two months ago to enable the government to take a decisive action on it.

  • Minimum Wage: Mobilise for indefinite national strike, NLC tells workers

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has pledged commitment to workers welfare while appealing to the Federal Government to urgently transmit the bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, made the appeal in a New Year message on Tuesday in Abuja.

    According to him, 2018 remains one of the most traumatic for workers especially given the failure of government to enact and implement the new national minimum wage of N30,000.

    “This is in spite of the unimpeachable tripartite process leading to the agreement by the social partners on the new national minimum wage.

    “It is unfortunate that the Federal Government is yet to transmit to the National Assembly an executive bill for the enactment of N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

    “Government’s dilly-dallying on the issue has strained Government-Labour relations with a potential for a major national strike which could just be days away.

    “Accordingly, we would use this opportunity to appeal to the Government to do the needful by urgently transmitting the bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    “We also would like to use this same opportunity to urge workers to fully mobilise for a prolonged national strike and enforce their right,” he said.

    The NLC president said the strike became the inevitable last option for labour, while calling on all Nigerians and businesses to understand and support it.

    He, however, assured workers that their labour, patience and diligence would not be in vain.

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has pledged commitment to workers welfare while appealing to the Federal Government to urgently transmit the bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    Ayuba Wabba, NLC president, made the appeal in a New Year message on Tuesday in Abuja.

    According to him, 2018 remains one of the most traumatic for workers especially given the failure of government to enact and implement the new national minimum wage of N30,000.

    “This is in spite of the unimpeachable tripartite process leading to the agreement by the social partners on the new national minimum wage.

    “It is unfortunate that the Federal Government is yet to transmit to the National Assembly an executive bill for the enactment of N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.

    “Government’s dilly-dallying on the issue has strained Government-Labour relations with a potential for a major national strike which could just be days away.

    “Accordingly, we would use this opportunity to appeal to the Government to do the needful by urgently transmitting the bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    “We also would like to use this same opportunity to urge workers to fully mobilise for a prolonged national strike and enforce their right,” he said.

    The NLC president said the strike became the inevitable last option for labour, while calling on all Nigerians and businesses to understand and support it.

    He, however, assured workers that their labour, patience and diligence would not be in vain.

    “We will continue to insist on accountability. The NLC will continue to promote worker-education and mobilisation through Congress education programmes and other union training programmes.

    “These activities will be religiously held with the objective of positive impact on workers.

    “Therefore, we urge government at all levels to consider workers as assets and partners in development rather than liabilities,” he said.

    He stressed that the NLC would continue to insist that the elections are clean and that the congress focus was particularly trained on the 2019 general election.

    Mr Wabba also said the NLC would continue to demand that both the election umpire and political actors play by the rules of the game.

    “This is by shunning violence, election malpractices, vote buying, and manipulation of election rules and politics of bitterness.

    “We will also deepen our campaign for good governance and fight against corruption in the same manner that we sustained the campaign for tax justice and illicit financial flows.

    “We also demand that the recovered loot be invested transparently for the benefit of all Nigerians.

    “We say no to the wanton killings under any guise in our country. It also shows a dearth of social justice and the reign of abject poverty. This is a serious setback to the fight against terrorism in our dear country.

    “We wish to remind our political leaders that the security and welfare of the people must be the chief priority of any government’s policy and programmes,” Mr Wabba said.

    He however reiterated NLC’s resolve to continue to push for the prioritisation of the welfare, security and wellbeing of all Nigerians especially workers of all categories.

    He added that “we wish to assure Nigerians, workers that our resolve and commitment to the noble goals and aspirations of justice, equity, decent wages and accelerated national development remains unshakable and inviolable”.

  • Minimum Wage: NGF insists on N22,500, says N30,000 ‘neither realistic nor sustainable’

    Minimum Wage: NGF insists on N22,500, says N30,000 ‘neither realistic nor sustainable’

    The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has said the N30,000 minimum wage demand of labour unions is “neither realistic nor sustainable.”

    The NGF however said, states should pay a minimum wage of N22,500 but any governor who can pay more than this is free to do so.

    The forum also said insinuations by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) that its members were unwilling to pay N30,000 minimum wage were untrue. It said its members were willing but unable to meet the demand of the workers’ union.

    The NGF said a report titled “Minimum Wage: NLC wants governors who diverted bailouts probed” is an attempt by the leadership of the NLC to steer the public away from the promise by President Muhammadu Buhari to constitute another committee to review the minimum wage impasse.

    The Head, Media and Public Affairs of NGF, Abdulrazaque Bello-Barkindo, disclosed this in a statement released on Monday evening.

    The NLC has been at loggerheads with the federal government over a new minimum wage.

    The NLC and other unions are demanding N30,000 as minimum wage up from the current N18,000.

    President Buhari has however refused to commit to the new proposal.

    Instead, the president said during his budget presentation speech on Wednesday that he would set up a technical committee to review the N30,000 proposed by a tripartite committee earlier set up by the federal government.

    State governments have also said they would not be able to pay the N30,000 minimum wage.

    The NLC said it would not partake in any further negotiation of the N30,000 and that all the president needs to do is send a bill to parliament for a N30,000 minimum wage.

    The labour congress, a registered coalition of many workers’ unions, also said it will hold a one-day protest against the president’s action on January 8, 2019.

    But Mr Bello-Barkindo in the statement said the governors have collectively said they would have been happy to pay workers the N30, 000 “but many states cannot afford it due to financial constraints and other limitations.”

    He said the governors had earlier announced that no state would devote more than 50 per cent of its revenue to salaries.

    “Let it be known that governors have met the President twice on this matter and presented their books to buttress their point,” he said. “First, a batch of state governors, led by the NGF Chairman, Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar of Zamfara State, in company of Govs Ambode of Lagos, Ugwuanyi of Enugu, Bagudu of Kebbi attended a closed-door meeting with the president where the financial standing of six states, one each from all the geopolitical regions in the country, were shown to the president.”

    According to him, on the president’s request, all the states forwarded their books, revenues, both internally generated and their earnings from the federation account along with their other sources of revenue, “for examination and the president appears satisfied with the governors’ position, thus the decision to set up a new committee”.

    Mr Bello-Barkindo said there has never been a time in the country when states have embarked on a more aggressive revenue drive than they are doing today.

    “And this is without exception or prejudice to any state,” he added.

    “The president at his last meeting with governors (December 15, 2018) had admonished them (governors) to expect harsher economic tides from New Year’s, thus validating governors’ fears that even those states that had hitherto looked comfortable financially, may in the course of the new year, falter,” he said.

    He said governors are not under any obligation, by law, to show their books to the NLC.

    “But they have, with a view to letting NLC know that what they are asking for is neither realistic nor sustainable.

    “Yet, NLC remains adamant that its will must be done, or the heavens will fall. Already, revenue to states has dropped drastically while demands by competing needs keep rising astronomically. Last year alone, revenue to states dropped from N800 billion when the Tripartite Committee was appointed (November 2017) to between N500 billion and N600 billion by the time Ms Amma Pepple submitted its report in October 2018,” he said.

    He also said it will be difficult for state governors to dedicate their states’ entire resources to workers’ salaries alone, “knowing that they constitute less than 5 per cent of the nation’s population”.

  • Minimum wage: Blame FG if we embark on another strike – NLC

    Minimum wage: Blame FG if we embark on another strike – NLC

    The Nigeria Labour Congress on Monday said Nigerians should not blame the union for the looming industrial chaos in January owing to what it perceived as the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari over the N30,000 minimum wage.

    The union also knocked Buhari for his proposed establishment of a technical committee to look into the minimum wage issue, stressing that the only recognised panel was the tripartite committee that had already submitted its report on the minimum wage.

    The union had on Friday said in a communiqué issued after its meeting in Abuja that it would stage a nationwide protest on January 8, 2019 over what it described as the Federal Government’s delay in transmitting, enacting and implementing a new national minimum wage of N30,000 for workers.

    The union also called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate state governors for alleged diversion of the bailout funds and other finds released by the Federal Government to them.

    Earlier, the union had frowned on a statement credited to the Nigeria Governors Forum which stated that states would not be able to pay the new minimum wage. The statement was released by the NGF Chairman, Abdulaziz Yari, after a meeting of the governors.

    The NLC said it made a lot of sacrifices to lower its demand from N60,000 to N30,000, stressing that the governors were carried along before the new amount was arrived at.

    It called on the governors not to treat workers like slaves.

    In chat with newsmen, the General Secretary of the NLC, Peter Ozo-Eson, reiterated workers’ resolve not to accept anything lower than the proposed N30,000 minimum wage.

    He said, “After the statement we issued on the coming industrial strike, we have not heard anything from the Presidency. The day we submitted the report, he (Buhari) promised that he would speedily transmit a draft bill to the National Assembly; but till today, about two months after, he has not transmitted that to the National Assembly.

    “What we heard during the budget presentation at the National Assembly is that a high-powered technical committee will be set up. We find that very unfortunate because the technical committee in relation to minimum wage is the tripartite committee that has finished its work and made recommendations.

    “Talking of any committee, be it low-powered, medium-powered or high-powered at this stage is unacceptable to us. We formally reject it and call on Mr President to send the bill to the National Assembly. The ultimatum we gave is for the bill to be sent to the NASS. The House took a resolution calling on the President to bring the bill; what is the difficulty he is having? If he cannot do it, nobody should hold organised labour in the country responsible for the industrial chaos that is likely to follow.”

    The NLC secretary also knocked the governors for what he described as unaccountable expenditure, saying that the union was not using the forthcoming elections to blackmail them.

    “The minimum wage issue is not a partisan issue. It is one of the issues that will determine the next elections. Workers are not slaves; politics is about interest and seeking one’s own interest. If workers in their states are saying that they will not vote for them because they have not taken care of their interest, you don’t call that blackmail. I have a different name for it; that is democracy. That is how democracy works. They can go and mourn till high heaven; we will continue to work in that direction,” Ozo-Eson added.

     

  • Minimum Wage: Labour issues Dec 31 deadline to submit committee report to NASS

    …kicks against Buhari’s fresh review

    Labour on Thursday said the federal government has before or on December 31 to send the tripartite committee report on N30,000 minimum wage to the National Assembly.

    The three labour centres, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the United Labour Congress (ULC) took the decision after a joint meeting in Lagos.

    They gave the ultimatum following President Muhammadu Buhari’s statement that a “high powered technical committee” would be set up to device ways to ensure that its implementation did not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.

    Mr Buhari spoke at the presentation of 2019 Appropriation Bill to the National Assembly in Abuja on Wednesday.

    The NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, who address journalists after the meeting, said setting up a technical committee could not be a condition for passing the minimum wage report to the National Assembly.

    According to Mr 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 December 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 a 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.

    The labour leader said issues on payment of minimum wage was a law that was universal, 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,’’ Mr Wabba said.

    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.

    Joe Ajaero, President of ULC, also called on the government to send the report to lawmakers so that the implementation of the new minimum wage report would begin without delay.

    Mr Ajaero said all affiliate members of the organised labour had been informed to be alert ahead of the December 31 notice if the government failed to submit the report.

    The labour unions had planned to go on a nationwide strike on November 6, following the federal government’s delay to accept the N30,000 minimum wage agreement.

     

  • Presidency set to present minimum wage bill to NASS, says Buhari

    Presidency set to present minimum wage bill to NASS, says Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari says a bill on implementation of the New Minimum Wage would soon be sent to the National Assembly for passage.

    Buhari made this known while presenting the 2019 Budget before the joint session of the National Assembly on Wednesday.

    He assured that he was committed to addressing the minimum wage issue, saying he had directed the setting up of a technical committee to look at mode of implementation.

    “To avoid a system crisis on the Federal Government and states, it is important to device ways to ensure that its implementation does not lead to an increase in the level of borrowing.

    “I am accordingly setting up a high powered technical committee to advise on ways of funding an increase in the minimum wage and attendant wage adjustments without having to resort to additional borrowing.

    “The work of the committee will be the basis of finance bill which will be submitted to the national assembly alongside the minimum wage bill.

    Buhari, said the committee would recommend modalities for the implementation of the new minimum wage.

    According to him, the move is to minimise inflationary impact as well as ensure that its introduction does not lead to job losses.

    he News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Amal Pepple Tripartite Committee on the Review of National Minimum Wage, had on Nov. 6, submitted its report to Buhari.

    The committee recommended N30, 000 as the new national minimum wage.(NAN)

  • Oshiomhole backs labour, insists FG, governors can afford N30,000 minimum wage

    The National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, has backed the organised labour’s agitation that N30,000 should be the national minimum wage for Nigerian workers.

    He also stressed that as a member of the Nigeria Governors Forum when he was the governor of Edo State, he had told his colleagues publicly that “when it comes to the issue of minimum wage, I am not with them.”

    The APC chairman spoke in an interview with journalists in Abuja on Monday night during a reception held for Ayuba Wabba and Safiyanu Mohammed, who were recently elected as the President of International Trade Union Confederation (Global) and African Regional Secretary of International Transport Federation, respectively.

    Oshiomhole said that his position on the national minimum wage had not changed despite being the chairman of the ruling APC.

    He said, “I do not think it is about the (APC) party here, it is about Nigeria. Do not try to ask a partisan question. I think you should ask a question that has to do with governance in Nigeria because this is an issue in which it appears all governors on the party platform are united, that is the truth. So, it is incorrect to ask that question from a partisan point of view.

    “When I was a member of the (governors) forum, I did publicly advise my colleagues that when it comes to the issue of minimum wage, I am not with them, not only secretly, but publicly, that I am going to dissociate myself. I believe we need a national minimum wage, I believe Nigeria is capable of paying minimum wage. I believe the primary purpose of government is the welfare of the people and payment of wages is a function of prosperity.

    “So, I am clear, whether I am chairman of the ruling party, or other parties, my views are not corrupted by the position that I occupy. What is constant in my life is my background, which is labour , and I do not deny it or hide it. And I am clear that the Nigeria Labour Congress has a right working with the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria to promote a reasonable living wage.

    “And when I was governor, I made the point because they say action speaks louder than words. I increased the minimum wage from N18, 000 to N25,000 three years ago. If I did it and my successor is paying it then, I think I have spoken!”

    According to him, the national minimum wage would be necessary because the prices of labour, goods and services have not been static.

    “The price of labour cannot be static if all other prices are changing and I said this creates a vicious circle. When you lack purchasing power in an economy, how do you stimulate the economy to provide more goods and services and create jobs?

    “So we create a vicious circle of poor people, too poor to buy and consume anything and therefore those who provide goods and services cannot sell, and because they cannot sell, they are closing shops and more people are being sent out of work.

    “Now, we should be more bold and courageous. I also argued and it is a fact that those who are more patriotic and inward looking in their consumption pattern are the working class people. They are the ones that buy garri, yam, ordinary tomatoes and fish. They do not import fish; they do not buy Toyota jeeps and aircraft.

    “Their pattern of spending is such that the money circulates. They are the ones who live in a local room and parlour house, pay rent to a local man whose only pension is the fact that he built a room and parlour house when he was in active service. When you don’t pay them living wages, you trigger a process of vicious circle of poverty.”

    At the event, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, said Wabba and Mohammed’s election came to President Muhammadu Buhari “as a pleasant delight that despite what we think our country is, the entire world has come to acknowledge and recognise the excellence with which we lead as a nation.”

    In their remarks, Wabba and Mohammed promised that although the task ahead would be very challenging, they would not disappoint the nation, adding that they would strive to put Nigeria on the positive map of the world.