We Can’t Wait Forever On Minimum Wage – NLC
The
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) said on Wednesday that it was running out
of patience with the government over the issue of new minimum wage for
Nigerian workers, saying cannot wait indefinitely for the government to
respond at its own time.
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| Ayuba Wabba NLC-President |
Speaking
at the 4th NLC National Gender Conference in Abuja, President of the
Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said Nigerian workers were getting tired
of government’s delay tactics in constituting a tripartite committee to
negotiate a new minimum wage for the country and ask the government to
act immediately.
Wabba
said that despite the fact that the minimum wage was due for
renegotiation after 5 years, the Buhari administration was dragging its
feet in constituting a tripartite committee as is the practice to
negotiate a new minimum wage.
He said
further that “against the background of the harsh economic times and the
impact on the working people, we cannot wait indefinitely for
the government to respond at its own time. Though we have been told by
the administration that the panel will be constituted, we enjoined the
government to urgently sort out whatever is the constraint it is facing
and act on the matter before we are forced to take actions that may be
unpleasant.”
According to him, “It is no longer news
that our Country is in a severe recession, and prices of virtually all
consumable and non-consumable items have skyrocketed. In the last
twelve or more months, the inflationary trend in the economy has gone
over the roof, and the mass of our people, the salaried and the teeming
millions of the unemployed, are facing very difficult times.
“Amidst
these difficulties, we have contended with a number of state governments
that have misplaced priorities and have regularly refused to pay
workers in the State payroll, their salaries as at when due.
“Similarly pension, of retired public servants have gone for several months, and in some cases, years unpaid. We have over the last 15 months fought these State governments to pay up these outstanding wages and pension liabilities they owe workers. We will continue to do this till all salaries and pensions across the country are fully paid up.”
Wabba
stressed the commitment of the Congress to promoting gender equity and
gender participation in the affairs of trade unions in the country.He
said: “the Congress has over the past three decades worked to promote
women participation and involvement in the affairs of the trade union
movement, in industrial unions and State Councils of the NLC nationwide.
He said:
“The Congress has over the past three decades worked to promote women
participation and involvement in the affairs of the trade union
movement, in industrial unions and State Councils of the NLC nationwide.
“Against
the background of the male-dominated nature of our society and the trade
union movement, gender issues are still challenging issues within our
movement; women workers are still very much disadvantaged within our
organisations. In the world of work, where both men and women are in
employment, the chances are that women still suffer more discrimination
than their male counterparts.
“From a
position where we used to have an almost all-male executive in most of
our unions, the NLC gender equity policy has enabled the Congress and
virtually all of its affiliates to have increased women representation
at the level of leadership in all their structures.
“To
ensure that these changes are sustainable, the NLC constitution and that
of affiliate unions were amended to ensure the inclusion of women
representations at leadership levels.
“At the
NLC level, not only is the Chairperson of the National Women Commission
now automatically a vice president of the NLC, in the 2007 delegates
Conference of the Congress, two ex-officio positions were created at the
level of National Administrative Council (NAC) of NLC, to be occupied
by women.
“As a
trade union movement, we need to intensify our struggle for gender
justice and gender equality and link it up to building our
organisations. We have to advocate and ensure that our government
enforces better gender policies, health care and increase access to
services to women as well as making the workplace women friendly.
“We must
deliberately support women leaders to build their capacity to meet up
with the challenges of unions and the complexity in the world of work.
We need to train women leaders on issues of the economic and policy
debates, collective agreements and legislation, especially those that
affect women. We need to strengthen the National Women Commission to
contribute and engage in the issues affecting women generally and
national development.”
Wabba
stressed that in recent times, a lot of progress has been made in
protecting and promoting women’s right, adding that according to UN
statistics, a majority of the 1.3 billion who are absolute poor in the
world are women.
He said
further that over the years, the International Women’s Day has been
recognised as a time to reflect on the progress made on women
advancement, to call for change and to celebrate acts of courage and
determination by women who have played an extraordinary role in the
history of their countries and communities.
The NLC,
he said is committed to working with the Nigerian government in the
spirit of achieving the SDG goals of ending poverty, promoting inclusive
and reducing inequality and achieving gender equality and empowerment
of women and girls.
Chairperson
of the NLC Women Commission, Comrade Offiong said the conference was
aimed at gender mainstreaming in the Trade Unions; assess the level of
implementation of the NLC Gender Equity Policy in the affiliate Unions;
Identify and map out strategies for tackling the challenges facing women
in the workplaces & Trade Unions; strategize on approaches and
techniques of strengthening women participation in the Trade Unions and
elect a new leadership for the NLC National Women Commission.
She said
even though the millennium has witnessed a significant change and
attitudinal shift in both women’s and society’s thoughts about gender
equality and women emancipation, women still suffer from gender
discrimination, stereotypes and abuses and call on the NLC and Affiliate
unions to continue to be the voice of change for women not only in the
trade unions but the larger society.
She
expressed concern over the safety of the girl child and women generally
which she said has became of a major concern to all especially the
working women who due to circumstance of their working life are forced
to leave the care of their children to other persons, while the children
become victims of rape and all forms of abuses.
She,
however, want employers of labour in the country to as a matter of
urgency and in the spirit of corporate social responsibility, set-up
child-care facilities in and around workplaces to safeguard these
innocent and vulnerable children while their mothers are engaged in
their legitimate employment.
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