Nigeria: NLC plans protest over bid to decentralise minimum wage negotiation
The National Assembly’s attempts to decentralize minimum wage agreements have sparked a national protest by organized labor.
The March 10 demonstration is in response to ongoing attempts to move the national minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent legislative list.
The country’s continuing gasoline crisis was also frowned upon by the labor movement, which threatened to picket gas stations stockpiling petroleum products.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) made these decisions at an emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja yesterday, Daily Times gathered.
After the conference, NLC President Dr. Ayuba Wabba told reporters that workers’ attention had been drawn.
Another bill to create State Judicial Councils was also rejected by the NLC, he said.
The NLC, according to Wabba, sees efforts to decentralize minimum wage talks as politically driven.
“The NEC decided that a national protest would begin on March 10 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), especially at the National Assembly, after careful consideration of the issues.
The NEC agreed that the demonstration would take place simultaneously in all 36 states of the federation, as well as at various state legislatures across Nigeria “Added he.
The protest, he said, was intended to send a clear message to Nigerian workers that “hard-won rights, which are global norms, would not be bastardized by opportunistic and narrow-minded politicians.”
READ ALSO: NLC pickets CAC over anti-union activities
He argues that, in addition to causing differences in minimum wages across states, it would inject politics into wage determination and undermine the concept of collective bargaining.
“It will result in a hostile manufacturing climate, with lower efficiency and consequences for national security.
“In view of the above, the NEC urged President Muhammadu Buhari to prevent fifth columnists posing as politicians from derailing his administration by railroading the legislature,
He recommended that the national minimum wage be moved from the exclusive list to the concurrent list.
Wabba went on to say that the NEC has granted the NLC leadership authority to collaborate with the Trade Union Congress (TUC) to make workers’ goals a reality.
He was also concerned about petroleum product hoarding, which is causing a scarcity in major cities.
“The NEC warned that if the current artificial shortage continues, the NLC’s various leadership structures would picket petrol stations found to be causing Nigerians pain,” he said.
