TUC worried over delay in unveiling minimum wage committee

WITH three months left until the expiration of the current minimum wage, the Trade Union Congress ( TUC) of Nigeria has said that it was worrisome that the federal government was yet to inaugurate a new national minimum wage committee. Deputy President of the TUC, Dr Tommy Okon, said the delay in constituting a wage committee would mount pressure on the organised labour, as it must be done in line with the rule of engagement.

Calling on the federal government to urgently inaugurate the committee, it said this would give the committee ample time to do its work diligently.

Whatever the government is, it is not known to us. By now, the committee should have been inaugurated. "We do not want a situation where the work of the committee is done under desperation because this is January, and the N30,000 national minimum wage will expire on April 18, this year. "So, it is expected that by now the committee will have been inaugurated and a chairman of the committee appointed, because it is tripartite, and the committee must conduct the activities also on a zonal basis.

"Thereafter, it will come to a conclusion where, whatever will be agreed, will also be sent to the National Assembly, which in turn, will also look at the public hearing, and thereafter, sent to the President for assent," he said.

Okon said there were both positive and negative implications in further delay of setting up the committee. According to him, the positive is in the sense that the government may have an agenda unknown to labour and trying to be sure of what it wants to come out with.

"However, the negative implication is that it may send a wrong signal that the government is not willing to negotiate the national minimum wage and that will be a very wrong impression if the public is taking that as the position.

"Also, Nigerian workers and the masses are not finding it easy because of the socioeconomic challenges.

"We know that the N30,000 minimum wage cannot do anything, must less transportation, payment of house rent, children's school fees, even taking care of some lifethreatening challenges.

"So, these are the implications; it is also going to send a negative signal to even international communities because now, we are talking about the energy transition; these are things that need to be put in place," Okon said.

He said the issue of the national minimum wage review was a task that must be done well.