Organised Labour has said that it is ready to resume its “relaxed” strike as it won’t accept the N62,000 or N100,000 “starvation wage” proposed as the new minimum wage for Nigerian workers. Organised Labour spoke on a day the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage submitted its report.....Read The Full Story Here ▶
The 37-Member committee submitted its report to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume.
Speaking on a Channels Television programme: “The Morning Brief,” on Monday, an Assistant General Secretary of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Chris Onyeka, said organised labour is insisting on N250,000 as the ideal minimum wage.
Onyeka said: “We have never considered accepting N62,000 or any other wage that we know is below what we know is able to take Nigerian workers home.
“We will not negotiate a starvation wage.
“We have never contemplated N100,000 let alone N62,000.
“We are still at N250,000.
“That is where we are.
“And that is what we considered enough concession to the government and the other social partners in this particular situation.
“We are not just driven by frivolities but the realities of the marketplace.
“Realities of things we buy every day: bag of rice, yam, garri, and all of that.”
Onyeka said the relaxed period of the strike will end by midnight of June 11, 2024.
He said: “The Federal Government and the National Assembly have the call now.
“It is not our call.
“Our demand is there for them (the government) to look at and send an Executive Bill to the National Assembly, and for the National Assembly to look at what we have demanded, the various fact of the law, and then come up with a National Minimum Act that meets our demands.
“If that does not meet our demand, we have given the Federal Government a one-week notice to look at the issues and that one week expires tomorrow (Tuesday).
“If after tomorrow, we have not seen any tangible response from the government, the organs of the Organised Labour will meet to decide on what next.”
On what will happen if the government insists on N62,000, Onyeka said: “It was clear what we said.
“We said we are relaxing a nationwide indefinite strike.
“It’s like putting a pause on it.
“So, if you put a pause on something and the organs that govern us as trade unions decide that we should remove that pause, it means that we go back to what was in existence before.”