2017 Workers Day: NLC threatens to mobilise Nigerians against State Governors, NASS – BusinessDay (satire) (press release) (registration) (blog)

Six days before the commemoration of the 2017 Workers Day, the leadership of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) threatened to mobilize Nigerians against State Governors and members of the National Assembly behind the bill which seeks to remove the National Minimum Wage from the Exclusive Legislative List to Concurrent Legislative List.

The proponent of the bill, Ayeola Abayomi Abdulkadir (APC-Lagos) seeks to alter the Second Schedule, Part 1 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) by deleting item 34 from the exclusive legislative list and renumbering the existing item 35 as item 34 and subsequent items accordingly:

(b) Part 11 by inserting a new item HH Labour immediately after the existing item H and renumbering the existing paragraph 21 as paragraph 23 and subsequent paragraphs accordingly: HH Labour:

21. The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the Federation or any part thereof for the regulation of labour, including trade unions, industrial relations, safety and welfare of labour, industrial disputes; prescribing a national minimum wage at the federal level and industrial arbitration;

22. Nothing in paragraph 21 shall preclude a House of Assembly of a State from making laws with respect to the regulation of labour and Industrial relations including the prescription of minimum wage for the State, the bill read in part.

While reacting, Ayuba Wabba, NLC President who issued the threat notice while reacting to BusinessDay inquiry over the bill obtained by our Legislative Correspondent, accused some members of the Nigeria Governors Forum of sponsoring such anti-workers legislation.

The bill which scaled through first reading before the House exbarked on Easter recess, has been gazetted for second reading on the floor of the House where members will debate on it.

Wabba who kicked against fresh moves by some cabals to strangulate Nigerian workers who are currently undergoing frustrations due to the lingering socio-economic hardship, assured that the labour movement will explore every legitimate legal means that the law provides, we are going deplore it. Every legitimate means as we have done in the past, we are going to deplore it.

He noted that the Congress will mobilise all its affiliates to campaign against all the current political office holders linked with anti-workers legislations and policies ahead of the 2018 and 2019 general elections.

The NLC helmsman who noted that all the labour centres are unified in the previous struggle that led to the extinction of such bill, condemned the intendment of the bill in its entirety

All over the world, minimum wage is on the exclusive list, we are talking about protecting the most vulnerable group that is the principle and philosophy. It is an ILO core issue under decent work agenda. It is a core ILO issue and all countries of the world are conformed to.

So, first is that it is the level of ignorance because he thinks that it is only for the state. No. It is for the self employed for those that are from the private sector to protect the most vulnerable people from being exploited from false labour and slavery, that is why minimum wage law is there. It is a core ILO convention and in many countries of the world including capitalist economy. As capitalist as US is, they have a minimum wage law.

So, he must first understand the concept, it is not state government, it is all employers of labour generally both private and public. So, for public sector who fixes their own? That is why it is a tripartite issue. So, I think that there is a level of ignorance he has demonstrated in this without even knowing what minimum wage law is all about.

First, we condemned it in entirety, we are going to respond immediately and effectively. Two, let him also go back to the archives. This issue was introduced even by some cabals within the governors forum at the last Constitutional amendment and it was defeated. It went to referendum and it was defeated flat. So, we should start from where we stopped and not to take us back to areas we have actually advanced on.

Is he against the workers? Is the wages of politicians not fixed centrally across the country? All the governors in Nigeria, their wages are fixed centrally both states that are viable and states that are not viable. All National Assembly members, all Councillors their salaries are fixed centrally by Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission.

Presently in Nigeria, workers are not paid the same salary, but the mi imam wage law protects every worker that that is the minimum. Below which more employers of labour in Nigeria should actually fix wages. So, this is the philosophy and the concepts and therefore, I think he has demonstrated not understanding the real issue and therefore it is condemnable and we are also going to mobilise workers from his constituency immediately. We are going to dispatch our members from his constituency to also engage him seriously because he doesnt understand the issue.

He ought have consulted even workers from his constituency, whose interest is he protecting? Is he protecting his own interest, why cant he say his salary should be deregulated even when there are bad times, how many days a week do they sit, are they not paid as full time workers? So, these are the issues.

So I am sure that this issue will not see the light of the day but it is highly condemnable because one, he has demonstrated lack of understanding and ignorance on what minimum wage stands for. It is a core convention of ILO globally. Every country has this position in its law to protect the most vulnerable group from exploitation. So, our position is that we condemn it from totality and we want to educate him to know what is the concept of minimum wage, the NLC President said.

He noted that millions of Nigerians who are self employed and those working in the private sector will be subjected to undue exploitation if the national minimum wage is removed from the Exclusive List to the Concurrent List.

Who will regulate the case of the self employed. For instance now, you are self employed, you are not working under either state or federal government that you will even negotiate. So the implication is that once you remove that from the exclusive list, workers will be exploited. We are not even talking of the maximum, we are talking about the minimum.

Assuming the alteration bill sells through in the National Assembly, what will the organised labour, especially the leadership of the NLC do? It will not sell through because we will stop it at all cost because Nigerian workers will not accept this, Wabba vowed.

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2017 Workers Day: NLC threatens to mobilise Nigerians against State Governors, NASS - BusinessDay (satire) (press release) (registration) (blog)