https://nextedition.com.ng/2019/01/23/labour-shift-minimum-wage-struggle-n-assembly-unionist/


Labour says it will shift its minimum wage struggle to the National Assembly to lobby the lawmakers to approve N30,000 for workers, a top unionist announced on Wednesday.

Mr Bobboi Kaigama, President of the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), made the announcement in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He was reacting to the approval made by the National Council of State, which on Jan. 22, approved N30, 000 as minimum wage for federal workers and 27,000 for states.

Government has been locked in negotiations with organised labour since 2016 over a long overdue minimum wage for public sector workers.

“If President Muhammadu Buhari takes the N27, 000 agreed by the National Council of State to the lawmakers, organised labour will provide necessary documents and agreements reached by the tripartite committee to lobby for N30, 000,’’ Kaigama said.

Labour had swiftly rejected the N27, 000 minimum wage, arguing that the council, made up of former heads of state and key government functionaries lacked jurisdiction on the issue.

A tripartite committee set up by the government on minimum wage sat for one year and recommended N30, 000 but the sum was rejected by many state governors, who said that the sum was too much.

Kaigama told NAN that the decision of the council of state would not be allowed to stand because it would set a wrong precedent for the future.

Talkatives