The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has dismissed reports that it is set to embark on nationwide strike action as controversies surround the implementation of the new minimum wage approved by the Federal Government.
The president of the NLC, Ayuba Wabba, said in a media chat that the union has no preparations for any strike but would instead employ other measures to resolve the current differences over the implementation of the new minimum wage.
The Details: The NLC chief disclosed that while negotiations are still ongoing, there is no plan to embark on streets protest or any form of mass action in the days ahead.
Meanwhile, Wabba noted that in the event of imminent strike action, several organs of the union would be consulted before any decision on mass action or street protest is taken.
Wabba said in a statement: “We would wish to inform our members and affiliate unions, civil society allies and the general public that the Nigeria Labour Congress is neither organising nor getting associated with any mass action or street protest over any issue in any part or every part of the country in the days ahead.
“Similarly, the decision to do a mass action or any form of protest is usually taken by those organs. Accordingly, we wish to state unambiguously that neither has such an issue has arisen nor a debate for a mass action taken place, let alone a decision to proceed on mass action.”
[READ: Minimum wage: FG discloses reasons for delayed implementation]
Recent Developments: The labour union had earlier planned to embark on industrial action when the Chairman of National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission (NSIWC), Chief Richard Egbule, announced that the new salary structure would only affect the salary of government agencies under five salary structures.
- The new minimum wage payment would be implemented in percentages across grade levels (GL) of civil servants.
- Only workers on levels 01-06 will automatically enjoy the N30, 000 minimum wage, but the federal government is yet to accede to labour’s demands for workers from levels 07-17 and above.
- NCL has described the federal government’s approach as staggered implementation of the proposed N30,000 minimum wage.
Further Negotiations: Meanwhile, a fresh negotiation held in Abuja on Thursday ended in deadlock as both parties failed to agree on wage percentage. The development has further delayed the full implementation of the new minimum wage.
[READ FURTHER: Does Buhari’s new minimum wage approval mean “Nigeria is broke?]