Organised Labour on Thursday faulted what it described as the jumbo remuneration paid to political officeholders in the country.
Speaking against the backdrop of the government’s insistence on paying N62,000 minimum wage, the acting President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Prince Adewale Adeyanju, advised President Bola Tinubu to pay workers a living wage and ignore those he described as sycophants.
This is as the Senate confirmed that it would receive the minimum wage bill after the Sallah celebration.
In his Democracy Day broadcast on Wednesday, the President promised to forward a bill on the new minimum wage to the National Assembly soon.
Asked about the proposed bill, the senate spokesman, Yemi Adaramodu, said, “ The President will likely send the Wage bill after the Sallah break.”
The Senate Tuesday adjourned plenary for the Sallah break and is due to resume on July 2.
The Federal Government and Labour have been at loggerheads over the new minimum wage with the union leaders insisting on N250,000.
On the other hand, the Federal Government and the Organised Private Sector made a counter-offer of N62,000.
The state governors argued that they could not sustain any minimum wage higher than N60,000.
The labour unions at several fora dismissed the government’s offer which they described as ‘starvation wage.’
The Assistant General Secretary of the NLC, Chris Onyeka, said Labour would not accept the latest offer of N62,000 and the N100,000 proposal made by some individuals and economists.
Worried by the labour leaders’ demand and the concomitant economic implications, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, Wednesday said the N250,000 minimum wage proposal could undermine the economy, lead to mass retrenchment of workers and jeopardise the welfare of Nigerians.
Unmoved by Labour’s insistence on N250,000 minimum wage, the President said the government would pay workers what it can afford.
Speaking at the State House during a meeting with some governors and members of the National Assembly on the occasion of the nation’s 25th Democracy Day anniversary, Tinubu assured that the lawmakers would soon get the bill.
“Senate president, deputy senate president, you will get a notice from me if I have changed my mind on minimum wage. We are going to do it — what Nigeria can afford, what you can afford, what I can afford. They ask you to cut your coat according to your size, if you have size at all,” Tinubu said.
Tinubu also applauded the governors, saying they are doing their best to improve the welfare of the people.
“My sincere gratitude to all of you standing by me. I promise you, I won’t fail. Nigeria is a great country. We include in our national anthem the essence of service. I have seen many governors both live and on TV serving their people and many of them are here tonight,” Tinubu said.
However, Organised Labour faulted the huge pay awarded to politicians, stating that political officeholders should be paid the N62,000 minimum wage the government was offering to workers.
Labour faults politicians’ jumbo pay
The Chairman of Trade Union Congress in Ogun State, Akeem Lasisi, speaking with The PUNCH, faulted jumbo pay of politicians, lamenting that workers, who generated the resources which the politicians, were enjoying, lived in penury while the politicians lived in affluence.
He stated, “Politicians should also feel the pains of the hardship. They should learn to free themselves from the encumbrances of running the government at a high cost.
“With brilliant and consummate management of resources by paying the politicians minimum wage, the conditions of workers can still be made better than it is.”
Reacting to the President’s position that the government would only pay the minimum wage it could afford, the TUC Chairman said it is either N250,000 minimum wage as the organised labour has proposed or nothing else.
On his part, the Secretary of the Gombe State chapter of the NLC, Ibrahim Fika, said politicians did not feel the pain of workers because of their jumbo pay.
Adeyanju, acting for the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, attending an International Labour Organisation conference in Geneva, Switzerland, counselled Tinubu to ignore the state governors.
He stated, “The President should not listen to sycophants. He should do the proper thing. Things are difficult in Nigeria, and the President is expected to provide succour to the workers.
“He should ignore the governors. It is disheartening for the governors to claim they cannot afford N62,000. How much is N62,000?
“The President should ignore the governors; the president owes the Nigerian workers a duty of care to make life easier for them. Look at the cost of things. Inflation has eroded the value of the naira and the purchasing power of workers.
“So, the new minimum wage must take cognisance and factor in this economic reality. There is no way N62,000 can take care of a family with the rate of inflation in the country.
Asked if he believes political officeholders should be placed on N62,000 minimum wage, he responded, “Even if you do that, they will devise other ways of making money. The governors should do the right thing by paying their workers a living wage. It is when elections are coming they will start giving the impression that they care for their workers.’’
