Minimum Wage: Labour Threatens to Demand Two Years Arrears

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Ayuba Wabba has declared that organised labour would demand two year arrears of the new national minimum wage for workers from the federal and the state government. He said this when he received Rosa Pavanelli, General Secretary, Public Service International in his office in Abuja.

Wabba expressed concern over the delay by President Muhammadu Buhari in transmitting the executive bill on the new national minimum wage to the National Assembly.

While describing the development as worrisome, he explained that organided labour had already called on the President to immediately forward the bill to the National Assembly.

Waba also declared that workers in the country had made tremendous sacrifice over the minimum wage.

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“We are going to demand for arrears of that two years we have lost. Because I think with all fairness and justices, going forward as they are going out to campaign we will also go out to campaign for our minimum wage. I also want to inform you that we have passed the first hurdle and it took us almost a year to be at the tripartite negotiating table for a figure and we have agreed on a figure of N30, 000.

“That figure has been transmitted to Mr. President who set up the committee and we have also told them to forward an executive bill immediately to the National Assembly. We are not unaware of the new tactics by the state governors to try to arm-twist what has already being done,” Wabba said.

Pavanelli said she was in Nigeria to show support for the trade union movement in the country. She also remarked that workers in the public service were faced with a lot of challenges especially in Nigeria

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