The President of United Labour Congress (ULC), Comrade Joe Ajaero has charged Nigerian workers to prepare for war as the 30-man Tripartithe Committee on the negotiation of New Minimum Wage prepares to begin sitting. Comrade Ajaero's concern was informed by the presence of 'labour unfriendly' governors in the committee. He explained that some governors who currently owe salaries and pension in their states have found their ways into the committee lamenting that they could be there to justify why the wages should not be increased.
In an interview with Vanguard, he said he was expecting a stalemate.“The presence of these governors in the committee, the fact that some of those representing the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, are mainly those who are not paying salaries and pensions speaks volume. In fact, we fear a stalemate because these governors represent anti-salary payment. They may be coming to justify why there should not be increment in salary.
“Surely, they have no moral justification to be in the committee unless it was by design by the NGF for these governors to represent the group. If that is the case, then the governors have an agenda to frustrate the emergence of a new national minimum wage. Therefore, we foresee protracted negotiations.
"As Organised Labour, we have to prepare for war; a long time battle to confront these governors because they do not want to pay even anything. However they come, we will engage them and ensure that the yearning of workers for a living wage, not just a minimum wage, is met.
We have all the indices to justify our demand for even N100,000 minimum wage because the socio-economic condition, the inflation, the cost of living, the depreciation of the Naira and so on, are there for everybody to see.”
The report also quoted the General Secretary of the NLC, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson as saying “We noticed the dominance of these governors in the representation of the NGF. The principle of tripartitism is that each party is free to choose its representative. So, the Governors’ Forum has chosen its representatives, there is nothing we can do about that.
"Yes, we noticed that most of those representing the governors are those owing salaries and pension. But we still have the governor of Plateau State, who inherited a backlog of salaries on assumption of office, has not only cleared all the arrears, he is paying as and when due.
We advise other governors to learn from him. So, his presence in the committee is a plus. Nevertheless, we will engage the committee with facts and figures, we will engage the committee and address issues as they come. We are prepared," he added.
