MINISTER of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige has cleared air on the controversy trailing the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari, to constitute another special Technical Committee on the issue of national minimum wage.
President Buhari announced during the presentation of 2019 Budgetary Appropriation to the joint session of the National Assembly that another Technical Committee will be established to look at issues surrounding the minimum wage; long after the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage, constitutionally empowered to negotiate issues of wage, had submitted its report to the President.
But the Organized Labour swiftly dismissed this development and kicked against it, insisting that the Tripartite Committee on Minimum Wage, had concluded the work on the issue and already submitted an agreed and compromised figure of N30, 000 to the government.
They accused the Executive of delay in transmitting the bill on national minimum wage to the National Assembly and a deliberate ploy to delay in the implementation of a new minimum wage.
The Organized Labour, who is already mobilizing all their members, state councils and affiliate unions across the country for a strike action had scheduled a nationwide protest for today; before they were invited for an emergency meeting by the Minister.
Dr. Ngige said the Technical Committee to be constituted by President Buhari was not to review the report already submitted by the Tripartite Committee but to advise the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on the implementation of minimum the wage.
“The Technical Committee announced by the President is only meant to advise the Ministry of Budget and National Planning on the inmplementation of the minimum wage,” the minister said.
Ngige said President Buhari was committed to giving Nigerian workers a new minimum wage; adding that the government had decided to meet the labour leadership and brief them on the processes the government was taking regarding the minimum wage issue.
He harped on the sustainability of whatever the government do, saying that the government wants to ensure that the new minimum wage is sustainable.
He said “The government decided to meet with you and brief you fully on all we have been doing and if you have questions, you ask us so that we can be on the same page because this President is determined to give a minimum wage to Nigerian workers.
“But in doing so, he has to do a minimum wage that can be sustainable. In doing that, it means that we have to do a proper process in what we have to do. The national minimum wage is an existing act that need amendment. So, it is not a question of only money.
“There are things that we need to do before sending the bill to the National Assembly and do it in a way to maintain the sustainable status of the minimum wage. This why we have called you and for you to suggest to us, your own views or what we should add so that we can fast track the process.
“We are aware that when the bill get to the National Assembly, it becomes the business of all of us, including the public. For today, we are here to align ourselves and I am happy that in the composition of your team, members of the tripartite committee remain and so, whatever we say will not be new to you and whatever you say may not be new to us.”
The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba said the Organized Labour have always wanted all issues of industrial relations resolved through dialogue, adding that the issue on ground at the moment has nothing to do with money, but the process leading to the final outcome.
Wabba said: “We have always believed in social dialogue in resolving industrial relations issues. From the beginning of the issue of this new national minimum wage which was legally due in 2016, labour has demonstrated enough patience and understanding and has followed all the processes to make sure that we are able to dispense with this issue.
“I recalled that during the tripartite committee meetings which lasted for almost one year, Labour has demonstrated much commitment on how this issue can be resolved. Where we are is not even about implementation, but how to get to the next process and we remain committed to that.
“Like you said, when there is no flow of information, there must be speculation. After submission of the report more than two months ago, we were patient to allow the process because we know there is a process. So we were patient to allow the process take its course because we thought that in a few weeks, this process would have been pushed to the next level.
“But there was no communication and this issue is very dear to workers because of a lot of factors. The inflation, the economy and other variables have affected the take home pay of the ordinary worker which has put a lot of pressure on all of us to be able to deliver on this important subject matter of minimum wage.”
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