Minimum Wage: NLC Embarks On Nationwide Protest Today

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and its allied unions are set to embark on a Nationwide Protest Today over the minimum wage.

The organised labour has alleged that some members of the National Assembly are trying to remove the Minimum Wage from the Exclusive Legislative List to the Concurrent Legislative List.

In a statement on Tuesday, the NLC said the protest will hold in the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly.

It added the protest will start from the Unity Fountain Abuja at 7:30 am to the National Assembly complex.

According to a communiqué jointly signed by NLC President, Ayuba Wabba and the acting General Secretary of the NLC, Ismail Bello, the bill is an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s working class.

NLC stated;

The NEC decided that there will be a national protest action commencing from March 10, 2021, in the Federal Capital Territory and especially to the National Assembly.

The NEC decided that should the need arise, it has empowered the National Administrative Council of the NLC to declare and enforce a national strike action, especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.

While expressing labour’s opposition to the planned amendment, Comrade Ayuba Wabba said there will be a national protest commencing from March 10 (today) in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and especially the National Assembly.

Wabba expressed that the attention of the entire working class in Nigeria had been drawn to a bill sponsored by Hon. Garba Datti Mohammed representing Sabon Gari Federal Constituency in Kaduna State, which seeks to move minimum wage from Exclusive list to concurrent legislative of the constitution.

He said that the NLC NEC is also kicking against another bill to establish State Judicial Councils.

Wabba noted that NLC views the move to amend minimum wage law as politically motivated.

The union president said;

After careful deliberations of the issues, the NEC decided that there will be a national protest commencing from March 10 in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and especially the National Assembly. NEC resolved that the protest will be concurrently hold in all the 36 states of the federation and to the different State Houses of Assembly across Nigeria.

He said that the protest is to make a strong statement that Nigerian workers “would not lie los and allow hard fought rights which are global standards to bastardised by opportunistic and narrow minded politicians”.

Wabba added that apart from creating minimum wage variations across states, it will introduce politics into the wage determination and negate the collective bargaining principle.