NLC Demands Negotiations on Minimum Wage

• Insists on nationwide industrial action

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has said it would make good its threat to call out workers on a nationwide industrial action at the expiration of its 14-day ultimatum if the federal government fails to reconvene the tripartite committee on negotiations for a new minimum wage.

Speaking to THISDAY wednesday at the end of the National Executive Committee (NEC), the President of NLC, Mr. Ayuba Wabba said the NEC meeting mandated the leadership of the labour union to liaise with other stakeholders to review positions if need be before the end of the ultimatum.

“We used the opportunity of today’s meeting to brief our organs on stoppage of minimum wage negotiations and why the process was stalled,” he said.

Explaining why the negotiations broke down, Wabba said: “The process was proceeding very well until in fact we were on the verge of negotiating a figure when the federal government requested for the meeting to be adjourned indefinitely to allow its team to consult and come up with a figure.

“However we feel that in tripartite negotiations, all the parties must agree on rules of engagement and a decision of one party cannot be imposed on others. If they are going to adjourn negotiations, they would have give a specific timeframe to reconvene. This was why we decided to give the 14-day ultimatum on industrial action.”

As part of its resolutions, NEC also enjoined workers to participate fully in the forthcoming general elections in 2019.

The leadership of the NLC had earlier in the day met with the officials of the National Pension Commission (PENCOM) over issues matters relating to pension rights and benefits of federal civil servants.