NLC faults Tinubu’s speech on wage pact, to reject offer

Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has urged organised labour to settle for a national minimum wage that will not undermine the national economy and lead to mass retrenchment of workers.

 
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) faulted President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day speech, insisting that no agreement had been reached with the Federal Government and other employers on minimum wage. 
 
Idris, who appealed while declaring open the 2024 Synod of the Charismatic Bishops Conference of Nigeria, yesterday, in Abuja, noted the need for a realistic and sustainable wage system that balances workers’ needs with the country’s economic realities. He expressed the government’s commitment to reviewing the minimum wage but cautioned against demands that could harm the economy.
 
The minister highlighted the government’s efforts to reduce the cost of living and increase Nigerians’ purchasing power through programmes like the Presidential CNG Initiative, which aims to cut transportation costs by 50 per cent.
 
He said: “As I have repeatedly said, the Federal Government is not opposed to the increase of wages for Nigerian workers, but we keep on advocating a realistic and sustainable wage system for the workers – a wage system that will not undermine the economy, lead to mass retrenchment of workers and jeopardise the welfare of about 200 million Nigerians. 
 
“We want the labour unions to understand that the relief Nigerians are expecting, and that they fully deserve, will not come only in the form of an increase in wages. It will also come as efforts to reduce the cost of living and to ensure that more money stays in the pockets of Nigerians. This is where programmes like the Presidential CNG Initiative come in. By replacing or complementing petrol usage with CNG, that programme alone will cut transportation costs by as much as 50 per cent.”
 
The minister appealed to the clergy to support Tinubu’s vision for Nigeria’s renaissance and to pray for wisdom and guidance as the country navigates its current challenges.

National President of the Conference, Archbishop Leonard Kawas, pledged their unalloyed loyalty and support to Tinubu’s administration, stressing that they would continue to partner with the government to achieve its vision for Nigeria.
 
He clarified that they invited the minister, who is a Muslim, to declare their conference open, because they see in him a detribalised Nigerian who harbours no religious differences.

INSISTING that organised labour’s demand remains N250,000, the NLC said it had not been given any compelling reason to change the position, which it considered a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process. 
 
Stating this yesterday, the Acting President of NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, stressed that he expected Tinubu to harmonise the government’s N62,000 and the N250,000 demand by Organised Private Sector (OPS) and labour in favour of workers and masses. 

 
According to Adeyanju, it would have been a fitting Democracy Day gift. Tinubu, in his Democracy Day speech, said the Federal Government and Labour had negotiated in good faith and with open arms reached an agreement on a new national minimum wage. 
 
“We shall soon send an executive bill to the National Assembly to enshrine what has been agreed upon as part of our law for the next five years or less. 
 “In the face of labour’s call for a national strike, we did not seek to oppress or crackdown on the workers, as a dictatorial government would have done. We chose the path of cooperation over conflict. No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the Labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution,” he said.
 
But Adeyanju said he was surprised at Tinubu’s submission over a supposed agreement, stating that the President might have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with Labour.   He insisted that there was no agreement, neither had Labour seen any copy of the document submitted to Tinubu.
 
He vowed that organised labour would not accept any doctored document, urging Tinubu not to allow any individual and group to sabotage his promise of lifting Nigerian workers out of poverty, as he prepares an Executive Bill whose content would reflect the true demand of Nigerian workers.
 
Despite the harassment Labour faced during the negotiation process, Adeyanju said he was optimistic that the President’s democratic credentials would come to the fore in favour of Nigerian workers and masses.  The NLC chief also said Labour never agreed on a five-year duration of the Minimum Wage Act.