Minimum Wage: NLC President dismisses reports of fresh strike on Tuesday

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has ruled out the possibility of strike action scheduled for Tuesday regarding the new national minimum wage.

Ajaero spoke on Monday, 10th of June 2024 during the International Labour Conference in Geneva, Switzerland, amid speculative reports of a fresh nationwide strike.

Guardian reports that the NLC president said organised labour cannot embark on another strike tomorrow (June 11) because the figures presented by the Tritiparte committee on minimum wage are with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He clarified that the submision of the N62,000 proposed by federal government and the organized employers’ body against labour’s N250,000 does not translate to labour accepting it as the new minimum wage.

Ajaero said: “The tripartite committee submitted two figures to the President. Government and employers proposed N62,000 while labour proposed N250,000. We are waiting for the decision of the President. Our National Executive Council (NEC) will deliberate on the new figure when it is out.

“We cannot declare strike now because the figures are with the President. We will wait for the President’s decision.

“During the tenure of the immediate past President, the figure that was proposed to him was N27,000 by the tripartite committee but he increased it to N30,000. We are hopeful that this President will do the right thing. The President had noted that the difference between N62,000 and N250,000 is a wide gulf.”

The NLC president also berated state governors under the umbrella body of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum for rejecting the minimum wage presented by federal government.

“How can any governor say he cannot pay? They cannot also be calling for the decentralization of the minimum wage. Are their wages decentralized?

“Governors whose states are not contributing a dime to the national purse and who generate pitiable Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) are collecting the same amount as governors whose states are generating billions of dollars into the FAAC.

“They should decentralize their salaries and emoluments first. So, where is the governor of Edo state, Godwin Obaseki getting his money from? He is paying N70,000 minimum wage. This is the type of governor that should be emulated and not the lazy ones,” Ajaero said.