….Call for abolition of 5yrs review of minimum wage.
As debate on amount to be paid by government as the new National Minimum wage rages on, the Nigeria Union of Pensioners, NUP, Southwest Zonal Council, has told President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) are not asking for too much considering the current high cost of essential commodities and services.
This is just as the Retirees demanded abolition of 5years review of the minimum wage, instead same should be negotiated periodically in line with economic reality.
The Southwest NUP made the call in Akure, the Ondo State Capital in a communique issued at the end of its Zonal Council Meeting attended by pensioners’ Executives from Oyo, Ogun, Ekiti, Osun, Lagos and the host Ondo state.
Reading the communique to newsmen at the NUP House in Akure, the Southwest Zonal Public Relations Officer of the union and Oyo State Secretary, Dr Olusegun Abatan, said the Senior Citizens are not happy that the Tinubu’s government and state Governors are not taking the minimum wage negotiation seriously amidst hardship confronting workers, pensioners and Nigerians at large since the removal of fuel subsidy.
The NLC/TUC had proposed N497,000 as the new minimum wage, while Government’s side and organised private sector are pushing for N57,000.
Apparently reacting to the stalemate in the negotiation, the Southwest NUP leadership said, “In Nigeria, the situation is so dynamic that what you’re earning five years ago with the current situation of buying and selling commodities, services now, you will definitely see that it is different.
“So what we are saying in essence is that we should go back to our memory lane, while the NLC and TUC should send a Bill to the National Assembly for enactment of a law that will compel government to review minimum wage whenever there is economic problem.
“The salary increase should be based according to the dictates of socio-economic situation of the country, not until it reach five years. So the demands of NLC, TUC is not out of place if we factor the economic problem, the amount of money the political holders are collecting every month in this country,” he said.
According to the Communique, there is a need for the Ondo state Governor, Lucky Aiyedatiwa to fulfill his promise of regular payment of gratuities and his administration should restore payment of N10,000 palliative allowance to pensioners in the state which was stopped since January this year.
The NLC/TUC had proposed N497,000 as the new minimum wage, while Government’s side and organised private sector are pushing for N57,000.
Apparently reacting to the stalemate in the negotiation, the Southwest NUP leadership said, “In Nigeria, the situation is so dynamic that what you’re earning five years ago with the current situation of buying and selling commodities, services now, you will definitely see that it is different.
“So what we are saying in essence is that we should go back to our memory lane, while the NLC and TUC should send a Bill to the National Assembly for enactment of a law that will compel government to review minimum wage whenever there is economic problem.
“The salary increase should be based according to the dictates of socio-economic situation of the country, not until it reach five years. So the demands of NLC, TUC is not out of place if we factor the economic problem, the amount of money the political holders are collecting every month in this country.
“In Ondo state, Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has been very nice to our pensioners, but the palliatives of N10,000 to each pensioners in the state has been stopped. So, we want. So, we plead with the governor (Lucky Aiyedatiwa) to reactivate it as soon as possible,” Abatan said.
“We want to congratulate the President for clocking a year in the office, while we also want to congratulate NADECO, from where Bola Tinubu came from because he was a very active member of the group. But since he came on board as our President, we have not seen the signs of His Excellency key into the ideas of NADECO.
“We want him (Tinubu) to go back and see what he can do, he should go back and do what he was saying during the time of NADECO. He should do what he said then that Nigeria should have a better life, because things are getting worse every day.”
