The organized labour in Nigeria has made it clear that any attempt by the national assembly to tamper with the national minimum wage for workers as it is now will be an invitation to confrontation. It kicked against the removal of the Minimum Wage from the Exclusive list to the Concurrent list in the constitution by the National Assembly, saying that it is an act of treachery carried out by some governors and their allies in the National Assembly.
The General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, and the President General of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Bala Kaigama, warned in two different statements today that labour would organize mass protests against the action which they said was condemnable and unpatriotic.
Ozo-Eson stressed that the NLC would mobilise workers against the attempt to scrap the National Minimum Wage.
The NLC Scribe said the organized labour was surprised by the sudden decision to move against the National Minimum Wage after assurances from the Senate leadership.
Ozo-Eson urged the National Assembly to reverse the decision in the interest of Nigerians because of its implications for the country.
He said the decision to remove the national minimum wage was “extremely dangerous and retrogressive” as it would empower employers to fix their own minimum wage.
The NLC secretary, who said an emergency meeting of NEC had been scheduled for Monday on the issue, stated that the move against the National Minimum wage was a deliberate plot of some persons to truncate the current electioneering process.
“The Nigeria Labour Congress condemns in strong terms the removal of Wages from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List by the National Assembly in the on-going fourth amendment exercise to the 1999 constitution.
“We at the Congress see the removal of Wages from the Exclusive List as an act of treachery masterminded by conservative governors and their cohorts in the National Assembly which will do the polity no good.
“We wish to state in no uncertain terms that the Congress will mobilise its members to resist this move to scrap the national minimum wage. We recall that last year, our national campaign and mobilisation on this subject matter was suspended at the instance of the leadership of the Senate, which promised to revisit the issue.”
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