Abuja, – Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba has said that empowerment of workers through an upward review of wages will stilmulate growth of the Nigerian economy.
Wabba stated this while fielding questions during the News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja on Sunday.
He said now was the right time to review the present minimum wage of N18,000 and that the congress had made a formal demand for it.
According to him, since the union put a formal demand before government to try and review the minimum wage and the argument has been whether it is the right time to review the minimum wage.
“We have defended that position effectively; in the midst of the recession in U.S. in 2008, the first economic response of the government of Obama was to the effect that workers needed to be empowered.
“Because they must be buying and selling for the economy to be stimulated; if you produce and nobody to buy how can the economy can pick up?
“Therefore, the argument is you have to empower the workers, which will in turn empower the middle and lower stratum of the society; and by so doing, the economy will pick up and that is how the economy picks up.
“There is no way you can address the issue and challenges in the economy without empowering the workers.
“If not, they will continue to be impoverished; so, you have a pool of working poor that cannot meet their needs and productivity will be very low.
“Therefore, anywhere in the world where there is recession, you put it side by side; outside the issue of addressing and putting in place sound macro-economic policies, is also the issue of empowering people.
“These are the issues that we have argued and government has accepted that yes there is a need to actually review the minimum wage,’’ Wabba said.
The NLC president stressed the need to have a happy work force, saying that it would increase productivity.
The president explained that the minimum wage as recognised by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), is a wage that a person who had laboured should be paid in order to avoid exploitation from employers.
He said labour was trying to address the issue of exploitation because if you allow everybody to go and pay what they want because of the unemployment situation in Nigeria, some people will go and pay N5,000.
Wabba said that the congress was working hard for the review of an aspect of the Minimum Wage Law, which states that the law would only apply to employers, employing about 50 people.
“Presently, the Pension Law says that even if you are employing five people, you will pay the minimum wage because we are talking of a minimum that will be able to sustain a family of four for a period of 30 days.
“Can N18, 000 truly in the context of the present economy sustain a family of four for 30 days? The obvious answer is no, So, why can’t we review it?’’ he asked.
He, however, said that the government had accepted the NLC’s stand on the need to review the Minimum Wage.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) says all state councils where salary liabilities of up to three months exist will apply no pay, no work’ rule.
NLC President Ayuba Wabba made this known when he featured on the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum on Sunday in Abuja.
“We have given instructions to all of our state councils that where there is liability of salary up to three months, they should also apply the rule of `no pay, no work’ it is not only `no work, no pay’.
“You can also apply the rule in a reverse order of `no pay, no work’ and that is legitimate because the law provides that after 30 days of working, the worker is entitled to be paid.
“How can we encourage people that have put in their best or even those that are still in the system trying to put in their best without addressing this very fundamental issue?
“Those are the situations we have found ourselves across states and across different employments; I feel very sad with that situation but I think we will do all we can within our means and power to try to continue to protect all those workers.’’
He said that workers must be seen as an asset to our county instead of shifting all the challenges to the workers.
“The challenges have been there; instead of looking inward to try to address these challenges, the bulk of the issue have been shifted to the workers and that is why I think that you can effectively say that yes these workers are under attack.’’
Wabba said that NLC held a meeting with the state councils, where they took inventory of the liability of pension, gratuity and salaries, adding that the data was alarming.
“When you see the data of how much it stands today of liabilities that workers have not been paid, the worst is that of gratuity which some states have a liability of up to 10 years.
“Workers have worked for 30 or 35 years in service; they retired following the normal process but yet after retirement, they were not paid a dime.
“Therefore, it is like they were slaves; It is only slave that will work and not be paid his entitlement.
He decried a situation where the political leaders do not see the payment of workers’ salaries as important but rather they see it as a waste.
The president noted that some governors would prefer to award bogus contracts rather than pay workers their wages.
He noted that everywhere in the world workers were seen and placed appropriately for them to contribute their quota.
According to him, due to the neglect and non-payment of workers’ salaries, productivity has been at the lowest point.
