Although several issues cropped up in the country’s labour circle in the last six months, none appeared to have dominated the polity like the minimum wage imbroglio that seems not to have an end in sight. While some employees lost their jobs due to closures of businesses by investors, the need to see Nigerian workers earn a living wage created more scenes, which culminated in labour going on a strike that almost grounded the economy for the two days it held. ..Read Full Article
As projected by New Telegraph in the first quarter report, the delayed tactics being deployed by the Federal Government seem to be working out as it introduces new policies each passing day to sustain the goal post push. As the Federal Government dribbles labour to be above board, state governors have also thrown spanners in the wheels of negotiation by questioning their ability to pay a unilaterally decided amount.
Just recently, the governors, under the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, said only a few states could meet even the meagre N62,000 that has been proposed by the Tripartite Committee on the New Minimum Wage; therefore, requesting that each state should negotiate minimum wage with its workforce. Even at that, the Minister of State Labour, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, made it clear in her May Day address to workers that the new national minimum wage was not ready yet, adding that a wide consultation was ongoing to ensure that the document is out together as soon as possible.
This was further corroborated by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, who represented President Bola Tinubu during the Workers Day programme. While commending the contributions of workers in Nigeria to the growth of the country, he made it clear that the Federal Government was open to receive the recommendations of the committee on the new national minimum wage.
Greek Gift increase
According to the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, the salary increase of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent for civil servants announced by the Federal Government is mischievous. “The announcement appears mischievous because there is no wage increment that government is announcing,” Ajaero said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme onWorkers’ Day.
The salary structure includes the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS), Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS), Consolidated Para-military Salary Structure (CONPASS), Consolidated Intelligence Community Salary Structure (CONICCS) and Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS). Ajaero said the last minimum wage of N30,000 expired on April 18 and “we should be in the regime of new minimum wage as of today.
Discussions were supposed to haveGreek Gift increase According to the President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, the salary increase of between 25 per cent and 35 per cent for civil servants announced by the Federal Government is mischievous. “The announcement appears mischievous because there is no wage increment that government is announcing,” Ajaero said on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme onWorkers’ Day.
The salary structure includes the Consolidated Public Service Salary Structure (CONPSS), Consolidated Research and Allied Institutions Salary Structure (CONRAISS), Consolidated Police Salary Structure (CONPOSS), Consolidated Para-military Salary Structure (CONPASS), Consolidated Intelligence Community Salary Structure (CONICCS) and Consolidated Armed Forces Salary Structure (CONAFSS). Ajaero said the last minimum wage of N30,000 expired on April 18 and “we should be in the regime of new minimum wage as of today. Discussions were supposed to have been concluded.”
“The Federal Government through the National Assembly legislated on it. But we saw that the discussion entered voice mail because the Federal Government refused to reconvene the meeting that was adjourned. “I think the announcement now appears mischievous because there is no wage increase that government is announcing. For them to announce it now, it is an issue that we are worried about at the NLC and even at the TUC.”
He said the current minimum wage of N30,000 could no longer cater for the wellbeing of an average Nigerian worker, lamenting that not all governors are paying the current wage award which expired in April, five years after the Minimum Wage Act of 2019 was signed by former President Muhammadu Buhari. The Act is to be reviewed every five years to meet up with contemporary economic demands of workers.
Minimum expectation
Noting that the organised labour had agreed on N615,000 as the living wage for civil servants, he said: “Living wage is such that will, at least keep you alive. It is not a wage that will make you poor and poorer. It is not a wage that will make you borrow to go to work. It is not a wage that will lead you to be in the hospital everyday because of malnutrition. For that living wage, we have tried to look at N615,000. “Let me give you a breakdown of how we arrived at that figure.
We have housing and accommodation of N40,000. We asked for electricity of N20,000 — of course that was before the current tariff increase. Nobody can spend this amount currently. We have utility that is about N10,000. We looked at kerosene and gas that is about N25,000 to N35,000. “We looked at food for a family of six, that is about N9,000 in a day. For 30 days, that is about N270,000. Look at medical, N50,000 provided there will be no surgery or whatever. “For clothing, we looked at N20,000.
For education, N50,000. I don’t know for those who tried to put their children in private school, they will not be able to cope with this amount. We also have sanitation of N10,000. “I think where we have another bulk of the money is transportation. This is because the workers stay in the fringes and because of the cost of PMS, that amounted to N110,000. “That brought the whole living wage to N615,000 and I want anyone to subject this to further investigation and find out whether there will be any savings when you pay somebody on this rate.”
Unending battle
The issue of minimum wage for workers remained the major trouble spot between organised labour and the government, and, by extension, employers. While it is obvious that the current minimum wage of N30,000 is no longer of value
considering the high rate of inflation orchestrated by recent policies put in place by the Federal Government, what the average Nigerian worker has been confronted with is high level insensitivity on the part of the current administration.
While it finds it very easy to implement policies that strangulate the common man and erode his purchasing power, the demand for a fair wage for workers has been subjected to endless debates. The current minimum wage of N30, 000 passed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration expired by April this year.
Failed promise
Towards the end of last year, the Federal Government had boosted the expectations of the workers when it said that a new minimum wage regime would take effect from April 1, 2024. For reassurance, the promise was reaffirmed in January when President Tinubu announced plans for it. The Federal Government said it was to ensure government’s impact is felt by every Nigerian, with a specific focus on addressing the economic needs and well-being of the poor, vulnerable, and working-class citizens.
Tinubu said: “The economic aspirations and the material well-being of the poor, the most vulnerable and the working people shall not be neglected. “It is in this spirit that we are going to implement a new national living wage for our industrious workers this new year. It is not only good economics to do this, it is also a morally and politically correct thing to do.” Today, debates around minimum wage has become a global phenomenon that is requiring every urgency from government.
ILO’s decision
It is to this extent that even the International Labour Organisation (ILO) had reached an agreement on the issue of what it calls a living wage. “Living wages should not be a one-sizefits-all approach and should reflect local or regional differences within countries,” the document outlining details of the living wage agreement says, adding that a sustainable strategy to promote living wages, “should go beyond the realm of wage-setting mechanisms alone and include a broader consideration of factors,” said ILO.
It also observed that there has been a positive long-term global trend in average wages. “Yet millions of workers worldwide – in both the formal and informal economies – continue to earn very low wages compared to the cost of living and live in poverty. These workers and their families are unable to afford healthy food, decent housing, medical care or schooling for their children, the global body said.
Labour’s position
Specifically NLC and TUC in the first quarter of the year held the government down to give a definite perspective to the implementation of a reasonable wage for workers. Besides his past agitations and the need for urgency, Comrade Ajaero, again, urged the government to approve a new minimum wage that is commensurate with the cost of living in the country.
Prior to the N615,000 proposal, the NLC had presented N709, 000 for consideration as the new national minimum wage while the TUC has also presented N447,000 as its proposal for consideration as the new wage. Ajaero lamented that workers had been reduced to beggars because of the economic hardship in the country. According to him, “food has become so scarce that Nigerians have become scavengers and resorted to raiding food trucks and warehouses for food.
Delaye tactics
While the government is not reneging on the implementation, it is, however, deploying delayed tactics to enable it push the implementation far beyond the target. As part of the strategies, the Ministry of Finance had disclosed that it would conduct a nationwide public hearing as part of the process towards the implementation of a new wage, adding that the public hearings would offer a crucial opportunity for stakeholders to actively participate in shaping the national minimum wage policy by contributing their perspectives.
The plan to move the implementation beyond the supposed date has also been strategically arranged with a reconfirmation by a member of the National Minimum Wage Committee that President Tinubu would announce the new wage on May 1 to coincide with Workers’ Day.
The committee member said there would be a meeting where all the reports from the zonal public hearings would be collated and reported, adding that it would also give the committee the direction to work with. “Our target is to ensure that Mr President announces the minimum wage by the 1st of May, which is the Workers’ Day, for it to take effect from April. So, we are working to meet the timeline,” the committee members said.
Enlarged conflict
Another conflict of interest was also heightened in the with the usual intransigence of state governors, who are always opposed to figures ‘beyond’ their capacity. Converging under the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, and not to be taken unawares, they urged the National Minimum Wage Committee to take into consideration the peculiarities in each state, and the effects on both the government and private sector employers’ ability to pay when determining the wage amount.
In a communiqué signed by its Chairman and Kwara State Governor, AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, the Forum said: “Members reviewed the progress of the National Minimum Wage Committee and ongoing multistakeholder engagements towards agreeing on a fair minimum wage.
Last line
As Nigerian workers struggle to make ends, their expectations to earn a living wage still hangs in the balance as the Federal Government and other employers of labour continously device strategies to keep them perpetually impoverished while the organised labour remains in the trenches. As it is, however, while government’s final intention in this regards is still unclear, labour is also out to see the battle to an end as Nigetian workers have been taken for a ride for too long.
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