The Nigeria Labour Congress has ruled out a strike action scheduled for tomorrow, Tuesday, to demand a new national minimum wage.
NLC President Joe Ajaero made this announcement on Monday during the ongoing International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.
According to the Guardian, Ajaero explained that organized labour cannot strike tomorrow because the figures presented by the Tripartite Committee on minimum wage are with President Bola Tinubu.
He clarified that the submission of N62,000 proposed by the government and the organized employers’ body, with labour proposing N250,000, does not mean labour accepts N62,000 as the new minimum wage.
“The tripartite committee submitted two figures to the President. Government and employers proposed N62,000 while labour proposed N250,000. We are waiting for the President’s decision. Our National Executive Council (NEC) will deliberate on the new figure when it is out.
“We cannot declare a strike now because the figures are with the President. We will wait for the President’s decision.
“During the tenure of the immediate past President, the figure proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee, but he increased it to N30,000. We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf.”
The NLC president also criticized state governors under the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for rejecting the N62,000 minimum wage proposal.
“How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage.
“Are their wages decentralized? Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.
“They should decentralize their salaries and emoluments first.
“So, where is the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki, getting his money from? He is paying a N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones.”