NLC Faults Chris Ngige, Reveals When New Pay Will Commence
The President of the Nigerian Labour Congress, NLC, has said that
the new minimum wage will be announced earlier than the third quarter as
stated by Chris Ngige, the Minister of Labour and Employment.
Ngige had said that a new national minimum wage will be announced before the end of the year.
The 30-member tripartite committee headed by former Head of Service
of the Federation, Ms. Amal Pepple is billed to conclude its assignment
by the third quarter and submit its report to President Muhammadu
Buhari.
The organised labour said all wage-related issues would be resolved not later than the third quarter.
According to the NLC, “The delivery and the adoption of the new minimum wage is expected to take effect before the third quarter.”
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said the union will reject any attempt
to delay the adoption of a new wage for workers, adding that the
prevailing minimum wage of N18, 000 (about $46) per month can no longer
sustain the Nigerian worker.
Wabba told reporters yesterday, “It is our expectation that all
issues pertaining to the new minimum wage will be concluded before the
end of third quarter of 2018 to give Nigerian workers a new hope that
the government and other employers of labour have not totally abandoned
them.
“This is something that workers have long anticipated and our
expectation is that we want a speedy process now that the facts of the
issues are very obvious.
“If you look at the exchange rate”, Wabba said, “the
N18, 000 minimum wage of 2011 when we signed the agreement, it was
almost equivalent to N110 dollars. Today, the N18, 000 is less than 46
dollars.
“So, this is the reality and with the purchasing power of the
ordinary worker, with the high cost of transaction, our expectation is
that the committee should look at the conditions of workers and
pensioners.’’
In his reaction, the Trade Union Congress (TUC) President, Bobboi
Kaigama said they (labour) expect everything to be concluded before the
end of the quarter.
Kaigama said “it’s a welcome development and good news to the
organised labour if the minister is saying indirectly that the new
minimum wage will come earlier than envisaged.
The TUC chief said the initial attempt by the Federal Government to
extend the committee work till 2019 was short down by labour from the
outset.
He said: “We have just set the ball rolling. We will be very
happy if everything can be concluded before the third quarter.
Initially, they wanted to extend it till 2019, but we rejected this.
“We said if this thing is for this administration, then it must happen before the third quarter.”
Kaigama informed that the committee will be meeting before the end of the month.
