FRESH TROUBLE LOOMS OVER NEW MINIMUM WAGE

About two weeks after the suspension a nationwide strike, a fresh conflict may be looming between the organized Labour and the Federal Government over the new minimum wage, as the Minister of Labour, Chris Ngige declares incloclusive negotiation, after the union had claimed that a definite figure had been reached by the tripartite committee.

This has immediately generated fresh agitation in the labour circle.

According to a report by The Guardian, in the meeting held on October 4th and 5th, both the organised private sector and organised labour agreed on N30, 000 while the Federal Government team led by Ngige pressed for N25, 000.

The conclusion was that since the organised labour and organised private sector are in agreement and in the spirit of tripartism, two against one was a done deal.

The meeting then adjourned to await the date for presentation to the Federal Government.

Speaking at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting in Abuja, Ngige said the Federal Government proposed N24, 000 as the new minimum wage for civil servants.

Ngige claimed that when the committee reconvened on October 5th, after the NLC had suspended its nationwide strike, “the organised labour came down to N30, 000 the organised private sector came down to N25, 000 while the state governments proposed N20, 000.”

The agreement on N30, 000 by both labour and the organised private sector indeed signalled that majority (labour and employer body) had their way while minority (government) had its say.

Labour also said the Minister did not oppose the N30, 000 figure at the meeting and that the committee on figure that made the submission was chaired by Ngige himself.

The argument of labour is that N30, 000 monthly (which is less than 100 dollars) is grossly inadequate to take care of a man, his wife and four children as stated in one of the strands of the ILO convention 131, which states that a minimum wage must take into account the needs of workers and their families.

The present scenario seems to lend credence to insinuations within labour movement that the present government is not committed to implementing a new minimum wage.