‘National minimum wage lower than N60,000 insult to workers’
How do you see the upcoming policy of ‘No Work No Pay’ by Federal Government ? That is a welcome development. It will mean, too, that there will be no strikes in Nigeria. This will be as long as government can prevent strikes there will be no need to stop work. Question of ‘no work […]
How do you see the upcoming policy of ‘No Work No Pay’ by Federal Government ?
That is a welcome development. It will mean, too, that there will be no strikes in Nigeria. This will be as long as government can prevent strikes there will be no need to stop work.
Question of ‘no work no pay’ will not even arise. If government can implement all the juicy promises to the workers, there will not be any reason to go on strike. But the reality on the ground is that government usually fails abysmally to carry out their promises to workers. If they don’t want strikes, government must do everything to appease workers.
Federal Government has given bailout funds to state governments twice, yet they are still asking for more when they are reported not to have used the earlier ones for the purposes they were meant. What’s your take on this?
There appears to be a constitutional logjam in this matter. Whereas President Muhammadu Buhari who was instrumental to the release of the funds is a good man in character and conduct yet constitutionally he cannot compel the state governors to do what he feels should be done with the bailout funds.
He can only lobby them. Our position therefore is that if the governors refuse or divert these funds meant for workers salaries, pension and gratuities, it is in the place of workers in those states to rise as one and take their governors to task. They should use all lawful means to demand for their rights. I do not subscribe to going to court because the matter will drag endlessly and it is the same workers that will suffer.
How much minimum wage does labour actually want?
Anything less than N60,000 per month to the least paid worker will not be acceptable. In fact, it will be the height of insult to the Nigerian workers if it is less than that. We know how much the government has recovered from the looters. There is stability and diversification in the economy, security crises are being contained in Niger Delta and the north- east and recession is over, so why won’t government be able to pay? If they can pay so much to the federal lawmakers and spend staggering sums to run the presidency! We want Federal Government to announce the new national minimum wage urgently. Nigerian workers have made enough sacrifice. We are the ones that create the nation’s wealth.
What is labour doing about the alleged staggering pay of federal and state lawmakers?
What federal legislators are said to earn are all speculative. Therefore, we are doing independent investigations to ascertain how much actually government is paying them. We do not want to rely on hearsay. Thereafter, labour will take up the matter squarely based on facts and not emotion.
What is the development on the proposed concession of Nigerian Railways Corporation to General Electric of USA, as well as NPA and Intel’s?
As you know, Federal Government has been talking about concessioning the Nigerian Railway Corporation to General Electric of America. But government is yet to come out with a clear cut position. Meetings and negotiations are still being held. Understandably, workers at NRC are anxiously awaiting the outcome so as to know their fate. We are urging the government to come out plain on this because GE is a private organisation. We need to know the terms. NRC workers should not be handed over to them like furniture to a private organisation. The workers will have to be well settled before GE takes over. This should be done soon to avoid tension.
Now regarding Nigerian Ports Authority and Intel Services, there has been a broken contract. Our union can never support anything illegal or unconstitutional. But we are very worried that this can lead to job losses. Government should rise to this matter with a view to resolving the disagreement once and for all. Many at Intel’s have been laid off in the last two years, and we are not happy over this.
How can government create more jobs?
They should go all out to invest and to attract more investments. This way, more jobs will be created. We encourage government to consolidate on its efforts to contain security crises in many parts of the country to boost investors’ confidence. We also want to encourage all workers to give their best to further sustain the gains which the economy is making.