Posted on Jan 08, 2020
Leaders of the Trade Union Congress are expected to meet with state councils in Lagos on Wednesday and Thursday to review the minimum wage compliance in the states.
On Tuesday, the Nigeria Labour Congress met for several hours in Abuja where they analysed the reports of the minimum wage compliance.
The new wage structure was signed into law by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on April 18, 2019, while both the Federal Government and organised labour agreed on consequential adjustments on October 18, 2019, after negotiations.
After the agreement between the FG and labour, negotiations shifted to states, with the NLC directing its state leaders to commence negotiations with their governors.
The body said negotiations must be completed on December 31, 2019.
The PUNCH reported on Friday that no fewer than 15 states had yet to conclude negotiations on the N30,000 new minimum wage two days after the expiration of the deadline, which labour gave governors to sign agreements with their workers.
Investigations by The PUNCH showed that Ekiti, Cross River, Benue, Gombe, Osun, Sokoto, Oyo, Niger, Ogun, Enugu, Bayelsa, Rivers, Kwara, Taraba and Anambra states had not agreed on the consequential adjustments of salaries as a result of the new minimum wage.
On Thursday, labour directed its state councils to complete all negotiations before its meeting in January. It also soft-pedalled on sanctions against states that failed to meet the deadline.
In an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Monday, the National Chairman of the Joint Negotiating Council, Abulrafiu Adeniji, said state governments had had enough time and that labour would soon meet to review their compliance level.
Also on Monday, the NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, said on Channels TV that only 10 states had completed negotiations over the new wage structure.
In an exclusive interview with our correspondent on Tuesday, the Secretary General of the TUC, Origi Musa-Lawal, said they would commence full review of the minimum wage compliance in Lagos today.
He said, “We are bringing leaders from the states to Lagos to discuss all issues that affect workers. The minimum wage will be part of the discussions. There is no way that we will not discuss it. It is the issue on the ground, so we cannot ignore it.
“We want to receive reports from the states. This will help us to plan our strategy to make the state governments comply.”
He added, “The National Action Council and Central Working Committee meeting of the TUC will hold on Wednesday while the National Executive Council meeting that will involve all leaders will hold on Thursday. It will review situation in every state.”
Meanwhile, the General Secretary of the NLC, Emmanuel Ugboaja, told our correspondent through a text message that they had been analysing reports from states.
Contact: theeditor@punchng.com