The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Saturday morning accused state governors of acting in bad faith as regards matters of minimum wage negotiations.
The Congress expressed alarm over the claim by governors that the payment of N60,000 monthly as minimum wage to workers won’t be sustainable.
Governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors Forum had on Friday rejected the proposed N60,000 minimum wage for Nigerian workers.
In a statement issued on Friday by the Director of Media and Public Affairs for NGF, Halimah Ahmed, the governors said the proposed minimum wage is too high and not sustainable.
NGF expressed concerns that if the N60,000 minimum wage is adopted, many states would allocate their entire Federal Account Allocation Committee funds to salaries, leaving no resources for development projects.
Reacting in a statement signed by its Head of Public Affairs, Benson Upah, the NLC said, “We do believe the Governors have acted in bad faith. It is unheard of for such a statement to be issued to the world in the middle of an ongoing negotiation. It is certainly in bad taste.
“As for the veracity of their claim, nothing can be further from the truth as FAAC allocations have since moved from N700 billion to N1.2 trillion making the governments extremely rich at the expense of the people.
“All that the governors need to do to be able to pay a reasonable national minimum wage (not even the N60,000) is cut on the high cost of governance, minimise corruption as well as prioritise the welfare of workers.”
Upah added that the union is not fixated on figures but on value.
He said, “It is important to explain here that a national minimum wage is not synonymous with the different pay structures of different states. The national minimum wage is the lowest floor below which no employer is allowed to pay. The aim is to protect the weak and the poor.
“We are not fixated with figures but value. Those who argue that moving the national minimum wage from N30,000 to N60,000 is sufficiently good enough miss the point. In 2019, when N30,000 became the minimum, N300 exchanged for $1 (effectively making the minimum wage an equivalent of $100 or thereabouts) while the inflation rate was 11.40.
“Already manifest is the mass incapacity of Nigerians leading to overflowing warehouses of the productive sector of the economy. The downward trend will continue except the capacity of workers and businesses is enhanced.”
