Minimum wage: Nationwide strike may begin next week…as FG reneges on agreement

ABUJA -  INDICATION emerged yesterday that the Federal Government has jettisoned the agreement reached with organised labour that all levels of workers, including the non-core civil servants would benefit from the N18,000 new minimum wage.
The government was also said to have threatened that it would not even  pay levels 1-6, if labour refused to accept this new position.
Leaders of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, have rejected this new position from the government and feelers from the labour movement indicated that the suspended nationwide strike may resume next week.

Already, NLC and TUC  have called on workers to be ready to defend their interest and the collective interests of the Nigerian state and people.
Vanguard gathered that government’s new position was made known to labour leaders at a meeting of the technical committee charged to work out details for the implementation of the wage and payment of arrears in accordance with the July 19 agreement.
The Head of Service was said to have announced that the Federal Government would only implement the minimum wage for Grade levels 1-6 and that non-civil servants would not benefit.
According to leaders of NLC and TUC, “at the resumed meeting today, July 28, 2011, the Federal Government delegation refused to discuss or negotiate the three scenarios presented by the Joint Federal Government-Labour Technical Committee. Rather, the Head of Service announced that the Federal Government will only implement the minimum wage for Grade levels 1-6 and that non-civil servants will not benefit from the implementation of the new national minimum wage.
“For good measure, the government team threatened that unless Labour accepted this, even Grade Levels 1-6 in the civil service will not be paid the minimum wage.
“Of course, Labour refused to be intimidated. It is tragic that the Federal Government has unilaterally repudiated the agreement it freely entered with the Labour movement and has chosen to violate the country’s constitution, the National Minimum Wage Act and tear the collective agreement into shreds.
“The implication of this includes the fact that if the Federal Government decided not to be law-abiding, it would have lost all moral authority to compel others to obey the National Minimum Wage Act.”

Culled from : Vanguard