FG and abour pact on new minimum wage
After 186 days of delay from April when President Muhammadu Buhari
signed into law the new Minimum Wage Act of N30,000 for Nigerian
workers, the Federal Government and Labour finally reached an
agreement last week on the most contentious aspect of its
implementation, namely relativity and consequential adjustment for
workers at various levels.
Minister of State for Labour and Productivity Festus Keyamo
announced the agreement, reached after many weeks of intense and
suspense-filled negotiations.All the while, labour was threatening a
general strike unless government reached a deal with it. After much
haggling between Federal Government and Labour over the finer details
of the Act, the final agreement reached on Friday last week was a
major breakthrough.
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The road to the new minimum wage law itself was not easy for both
parties as it featured contentious negotiations as well as arm-twisting
of government by labour with threats of general strike,in the face of
seeming unwillingness by government to cede to the workers’
demand.It also remarkable that even after the assent to the Act by
President Buhari, it istaking the process six months to be implemented.
This is due to the government adopting a disposition which offered
little credit to it as a committed stakeholder in the welfare of the
country’s workers.
The law provides for review of the subsisting minimum wage after every
five years. Building on this condition, labour rallieditself to have the
government come down to the negotiating table as and when due. But
this effort was always met with the reluctance of government to accede
to labour’s requests. Typical instances of such reluctance by both
federal and some state governments were recorded as the issue of
paying workers the statutorily approved minimum wage, was turned
into a matter to be determined by the personal discretion of respective
state governors. Even with the latest agreement, there are still gnawing
fears that many states may not comply fully and willingly. This
situation has induced labour to warn of its resolveto press home the
issue of compliance by states and eligible organisations. This has
raised the concern that the last word on the implementation of the
newminimum wage across the country may not have been heard.
Incidentally, the story of minimum wage in the country had not been
without its ups and downs, with labour always having to fight bitterly
with government to secure any victory. The first successful attempt at
a minimum wage for the country was in 1981 when Labour under the
leadership of Hassan Sunmonu forced the Shehu Shagari administration
to concede N125 minimum wage per month for Nigerian workers. The
next breakthrough was in1989 when labour, then under the leadership
of Paschal Bafyau, secured N250 per month as minimum wage for
Nigerian workers. In 2000AD duringChief Olusegun Obasanjo’s
presidency, Nigerian workers as coordinated by a committee of
industrial unions under the leadership of Sylvester Ejiofor, won a new
minimum wage of N3,000 per month. Agitationfor a new minimum
wage started again three years later and it bore fruit in 2004 AD when
there was agreement between labour and government on payment of
N7,500 for Federal Government workers and oil producing states, while
N5,500 minimum wage was approved for other state government
employees.
It was in 2011 that we had the last minimum wage review at which the
rate was raised to N18,000 per month. As labour leaders have
observed, the new rate of N30,000 is not what we can call a living
wage but it is an improvement on the rate of N18,000. It is the hope
that governments at all tiers as well as the Organised Private Sector
will implement new minimum wage without further delay. We also urge
that this new wage should be reviewed without fail after five years, and
without waiting for labour to threaten strikes and civil disobedience.
signed into law the new Minimum Wage Act of N30,000 for Nigerian
workers, the Federal Government and Labour finally reached an
agreement last week on the most contentious aspect of its
implementation, namely relativity and consequential adjustment for
workers at various levels.
Minister of State for Labour and Productivity Festus Keyamo
announced the agreement, reached after many weeks of intense and
suspense-filled negotiations.All the while, labour was threatening a
general strike unless government reached a deal with it. After much
haggling between Federal Government and Labour over the finer details
of the Act, the final agreement reached on Friday last week was a
major breakthrough.
ADVERTISEMENT
The road to the new minimum wage law itself was not easy for both
parties as it featured contentious negotiations as well as arm-twisting
of government by labour with threats of general strike,in the face of
seeming unwillingness by government to cede to the workers’
demand.It also remarkable that even after the assent to the Act by
President Buhari, it istaking the process six months to be implemented.
This is due to the government adopting a disposition which offered
little credit to it as a committed stakeholder in the welfare of the
country’s workers.
The law provides for review of the subsisting minimum wage after every
five years. Building on this condition, labour rallieditself to have the
government come down to the negotiating table as and when due. But
this effort was always met with the reluctance of government to accede
to labour’s requests. Typical instances of such reluctance by both
federal and some state governments were recorded as the issue of
paying workers the statutorily approved minimum wage, was turned
into a matter to be determined by the personal discretion of respective
state governors. Even with the latest agreement, there are still gnawing
fears that many states may not comply fully and willingly. This
situation has induced labour to warn of its resolveto press home the
issue of compliance by states and eligible organisations. This has
raised the concern that the last word on the implementation of the
newminimum wage across the country may not have been heard.
Incidentally, the story of minimum wage in the country had not been
without its ups and downs, with labour always having to fight bitterly
with government to secure any victory. The first successful attempt at
a minimum wage for the country was in 1981 when Labour under the
leadership of Hassan Sunmonu forced the Shehu Shagari administration
to concede N125 minimum wage per month for Nigerian workers. The
next breakthrough was in1989 when labour, then under the leadership
of Paschal Bafyau, secured N250 per month as minimum wage for
Nigerian workers. In 2000AD duringChief Olusegun Obasanjo’s
presidency, Nigerian workers as coordinated by a committee of
industrial unions under the leadership of Sylvester Ejiofor, won a new
minimum wage of N3,000 per month. Agitationfor a new minimum
wage started again three years later and it bore fruit in 2004 AD when
there was agreement between labour and government on payment of
N7,500 for Federal Government workers and oil producing states, while
N5,500 minimum wage was approved for other state government
employees.
It was in 2011 that we had the last minimum wage review at which the
rate was raised to N18,000 per month. As labour leaders have
observed, the new rate of N30,000 is not what we can call a living
wage but it is an improvement on the rate of N18,000. It is the hope
that governments at all tiers as well as the Organised Private Sector
will implement new minimum wage without further delay. We also urge
that this new wage should be reviewed without fail after five years, and
without waiting for labour to threaten strikes and civil disobedience.
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