Pay N30,000 Minimum Wage Or Lose 2019 Election – Labour Warns FG

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Pay N30,000 Minimum Wage Or Lose 2019 Election – Labour Warns FG

Following a nationwide protest held on Tuesday, October 30, 2018, organized labor threatened to vote out the current government if it refuses to meet its demands of the proposed N30,000 minimum wage.

It also reaffirmed its ultimatum regarding going on strike.

Labour warns FG to pay N30,000 minimum wage or lose 2019 election

The union has already warned Nigerians to stock up on food as the countdown to shut down the country with protests on November 6 draws near.

The protesters, through various spokespersons, accused the government of failing to prioritize the welfare of workers, saying there is no justification whatsoever for a refusal to pay the new wage.

The Nasarawa State chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Abdullahi Adeka, stressed that any governor who cannot pay the new minimum wage is unkind to workers and must, therefore, be voted out.

According to the deputy vice president of NLC in Lagos State, Amaechi Asugwuni,

“Anyone that cannot compensate the working people of the state is not worthy to be a governor.

“The message is that they should be voted out and we will ensure that we force a campaign against these governors.”

The organized labor has also condemned the resolution made by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) to pay N22,000 as the new minimum wage.

NLC President Ayuba Wabba stressed that the organized labor would not accept the figure as the new wage is not an award but a figure that was jointly arrived at through negotiation.

He described the NGF as a body unknown to Nigeria’s law and is therefore not in a position to determine the national minimum wage.

Wabba cautioned the Federal Government to:

“take necessary steps to ensure the enactment of a new national minimum wage act, as we cannot guarantee industrial peace and harmony.”

In his reaction, the president of trade union congress, Bobboi Kaigama, emphasised that the political office holders are saving money for politics and the forthcoming election.

“Workers are not slaves. Rather, they create the wealth of the nation. They cannot continue to suffer. After all, the minimum wage is long overdue,” he added.