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Workers will rather work for free than accept N48,000 — NLC
When the Nigeria Labour Congress meets on Tuesday, it has issued a warning, saying that it would prefer to mobilise workers to stay at home with their families or provide free services than to accept the pitiful N48,000 new minimum salary that the Federal Government is offering.
This was revealed in an interview on Sunday by Prof. Theophilus Ndubuaku, the Deputy President of the NLC Political Commission.
The FG promised to pay N48,000 on Wednesday, a sum significantly less than the N615,00 the unions wanted as the new national minimum wage. As a result, the NLC and the Trade Union Congress withdrew from the talks.
At an impromptu news conference held after the session, labour representatives declared that the topic was "an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerian workers."
However, in a letter dated May 16, the disgruntled unionists were asked to return for more talks on Tuesday, 24 hours after the uprising. Alhaji Bukar Goni is the Chairman of the Tripartite Committee on National Minimum Wage.
However, Ndubuaku pledged that the NLC wouldn't give up until a better deal was presented.
He says that organised labour considers it absurd that the Federal Government (FG) and state governors—whose budgets have increased significantly—could be making excuses for not paying a strong minimum wage.
"We have given the FG an ultimatum," he declared. We're all going to sit at home if the new minimum wage isn't implemented by the end of this month. We will tell workers to go to work for the government for free or become craftsmen instead of earning N48, 000 a month. That's our current situation.
"I don't get how the government thinks. I get the impression that people act without giving things enough thought. Was the purpose of the pay award to be palliative, or what? We provided them with a breakdown of the minimum wage.
"Even the National Bureau of Statistics has published a guide that displays the typical quantity of dietary items. The amount is N900. And from a federal agency, at that. Does this imply that the government did not consult with its own agency before to setting the N48,000 minimum wage? They either aim to offend us or they are living in denial.
This Tuesday, we hope to have a solid agreement. It is impossible to discuss Renewed Hope without presenting a plan or package that aligns with the people's aspirations. people must also inform us of their plans for food security, transport subsidies, even if people must take CNG buses, and other matters like health insurance. By Tuesday, we will go back to see what will come out of it.”