By Olusegun Olanrewaju
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday accused President Bola Tinubu of failing to give workers their much-expected gift on the occasion of the nation’s Democracy Day celebration on the new minimum wage.
The labour centre pointedly stated that the president only misinformed the nation on an agreement over the new wage structure for workers when he gave an assurance of a new minimum wage for the workforce.
Acing President of NLC, Adewale Adeyanju, who reacted on behalf of the union, said though the president may have accurately recounted parts of the country’s democratic journey’s history, ‘’it is evident that he has been misinformed regarding the outcome of the wage negotiation process’’.
Adeyanju said they had expected the president to ‘harmonise’ the two figures submitted to him by the tripartite committee in favour of workers and the masses, stating that it would have been a fitting Democracy Day gift.
Quoting the President, the NLC stated, “As we continue to reform the economy, I shall always listen to the people, and will never turn my back on you.
‘’In this spirit, we have negotiated in good faith, and with open arms with organised labour 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.’’
The labour leader further quoted the president as having said, ‘’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 co-operation over conflict. No one was arrested or threatened. Instead, the labour leadership was invited to break bread and negotiate toward a good-faith resolution.”
Adeyanju said the organised labour appreciated the president’s commitment to those fine democratic ideals which allowed the work of the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee to proceed unhindered, despite some hiccups.
He said labour had expected the president to have used that understanding, ‘’as one of those who was in the vanguard of the struggle with us around the nation to rescue Nigeria from the hands of the military to harmonise the two figures submitted to him by the tripartite committee in favour of the workers and masses. It would have been a fitting Democracy Day gift’’.
According to the acting NLC president, ‘’the NLC would have expected that the advisers of the president would have told him that we neither reached any agreement with the Federal Government and the employers on the base figure for a National Minimum Wage, nor on its other components.
‘’Our demand still remains N250,000 (two hundred and fifty thousand Naira only), and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.
“We are, therefore, surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement. We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC.
“There was none, and it is important that we let the President, Nigerians and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage.’’
Adeyemi added, ‘’We have also not seen a copy of the document submitted to him, and will not accept any doctored document.
“However, we want to reaffirm our belief that the president, on whose table the tripartite committee’s report presently resides, would prepare an executive bill which content will reflect the true demand of Nigerian workers.
‘’We think that this is an opportunity for him to demonstrate his love for Nigerian workers and the masses by shunning the pieces of advice that may be coming from those whose intentions are continuously focused on hurting the poor and struggling workers of Nigeria.
‘’Mr. President should not allow these individuals and groups to sabotage his promise of lifting Nigerian workers out of poverty.’’
“President’s advisers obviously did not tell him the truth that the leaders of the trade unions were intimidated and harassed.
‘’It is, therefore, important that Mr. President understands that we were threatened severely by his operatives, perhaps without his consent.
“Series of media propaganda calculated to intimidate and harass us were, and, are still being waged against the trade unions by senior officials of this government.
‘’Fully armed soldiers surrounded us while we were in a negotiation with the government and despite denials, recent statements by senior officials of the Government reaffirmed our fears contrary to the assurances by the Government. However, we remain assured that the President’s democratic credentials will come to the fore in favour of Nigerian workers and masses.
“It is also important that Mr. President should know that most of his officers are working round the clock to set up the leadership of congress and the trade unions.
We never agreed on a five-year duration of the Minimum Wage Act, though we acknowledge that the president mentioned five years or less.
‘’We also agreed that inflation should be pegged at a level for a certain amount to be agreed as minimum wage. This is to bring clarity to what the report should contain.
“Once again, we reiterate that it will be extremely difficult for Nigerian workers to accept any national minimum wage figure that approximates to a starvation wage.
‘’We cannot be working and yet remain in abject poverty. We seek justice, equity and fairness for all Nigerians, and this we hope would also drive the actions of Mr. President who promised a Living Wage to Nigerian workers.
‘’This is an opportunity to show that he listens to Nigerians as he promised!
“Together, we can build a stronger democratic nation based on equity which guarantees prosperity to the majority of the citizenry, and not one where few individuals monopolise our collective resources.
‘’That is the only way to build a sustainable democracy. It is the true democracy that we all yearn for as a people!’’
