The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has proposed to the state governors to sacrifice their ‘huge salaries to pay workers the proposed N30,000 minimum wage.
NLC President, Comrade Ayuba Wabba gave this suggestion on Thursday while reacting the purported threat by the Nigerian Governors Forum to sack workers if forced to pay N30,000 as minimum wage.
Wabba said in a statement that ”We propose that since a few political office holders are bent on enslaving Nigerian workers with peanuts mislabeled as salaries, we urge such elected public officials to subject their humongous salaries and allowances, reputed to be among the highest in the world, pro rata with the minimum wage they want to force down the throats of Nigerian workers.
“We, therefore, urge each state governor to go to their respective states and inform workers and their families their individual position on the new national minimum wage of N30,000,” Mr Wabba said.
He insisted that the bargaining process for a new minimum wage under the 1999 Constitution only recognises individual states and not the NGF, saying ”the states had already defended their positions during negotiations at the National Minimum Wage Tripartite Negotiation Committee.
The NLC president urged workers to remain firm in the struggle for a new national minimum wage, adding that Nigerians should vote out any political party that refuses to pay the new national minimum wage of N30,000.