Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) yesterday said it will not to allow the Tripartite Committee for National Minimum Wage to alter the time line for the implementation for the new wage.
Their position was made known by NLC President Ayuba Wabba at a Pre-May Day Symposium organised by the NLC and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) in Abuja.
The theme of this year’s May Day celebration billed for today across the globe is: “Role of labour and workers in national devolvement: Dare to struggle and we dare to win.”
The Federal Government, which raised a wage review panel in November last year, promised to implement the new national minimum wage for workers from the third quarter of the year, based on the recommendation of the committee chaired by a former Head of Civil Service of the Federation Ms. Ama Pepple.
Wabba said: “We will make sure that the time line that has been set by the tripartite committee for the implementation of the national minimum wage will not in any way be altered or undermined.
“Workers, who create wealth, must also be well taken care of as we are not unmindful of the situation of the Nigerian workers, particularly, with the increasing inflation in the land.
“So, clearly speaking, the minimum wage is an issue we will continue to canvass for. I want to assure you all that we will take the issue to the next level and essentially we are going to win.”
Speaking on today’s celebration, the NLC president described May Day as an opportunity to provide workers better policy and address issues affecting them.
Wabba said workers must be prepared to demand for a better working condition and welfare.
He said: “Importantly, we are going to interrogate how far the democratic process has been able to deliver on its mandate and how workers have being fairing.
“Workers have contributed immensely to our national development and workers create the wealth of every economy, however, they are neglected.”
He urged the government to address the issue of governance, inequality gap, unemployment and development among others.
Prof. Onje Gwardo, Faculty of Law, University of Jos, called for commitment among workers in the discharge of their duties. He urged them to show commitment to work, ideas and national development.
“We have some level of commitments that have been exemplified by those who have gone before us,”
In his goodwill message to the workers, Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday hailed the resilience, dedication and contributions of workers to national growth.
Telecommunications solution provider, Globacom, also identified with the workers and commended them for their uncommon industry, abiding resilience and unimpeachable patriotism.
In a statement by his media aide Yusuph Olaniyonu in Abuja, Saraki described workers as the mainstay of the economy.
The statement reads: “They (workers) form the bedrock on which the building blocks of any sustained national development can be laid.”
He called on the workers to continue to put in their best in any sector they find themselves, saying that their efforts shall never be in vain.
The Senate president promised that the National Assembly, under his leadership, would support efforts aimed at ensuring workers are adequately rewarded and well-catered for.
“There can be no economic growth without the contribution of workers and there can be no national development without economic development.
“Our workers play crucial roles in all we attain as a nation and that fact needs to be recognised always.”
In another statement in Lagos, Globacom observed that Nigerian workers were the best in the world, describing them as pivotal to the sustenance of the nation’s economy.
The company urged the workers to keep giving their best towards building a strong work culture that will produce world-class products and services.
“The flexible and dependable Nigerian work force had been the backbone of the nation’s economy over the years and has contributed immensely to the development of the vibrant telecommunications sector that we have today,” Globacom said in its goodwill message.