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In an attempt to prevent the scheduled walkout over the minimum wage, the House of representative has decided to meet with officials of the Nigeria Labour Congress.
While presiding over Thursday's plenary, Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu gave Nigerians hope that the meeting with labor unions will help settle the dispute around the calls for a new minimum wage for their country's workforce.
The House resolution was adopted after a motion on a matter of personal explanation made in plenary by Kelechi Nwogu, the member representing the Etche/Omuma Federal Constituency of Rivers State.
While noting that there was a need for proactive steps by the House to avert the strike, he recalled that the lower legislative chamber, on March 16, adopted a motion on the need for a new minimum wage.
He, however, noted that the committee set up to come up with a proposed living wage for Nigerian workers was yet to report back to the House, contrary to the provision of the House Standing Order, which mandated committees to complete their assignments within 30 days.
According to him, “If you look at Order 18 Rule 1 Sub 5 of our Standing Order, it says any matter referred to a committee shall be treated within 30 days, otherwise the committee stands discharged after 60 days, except there is an extension of time.
“This House adopted a motion on the need to provide a living wage for workers in Nigeria, sponsored by the deputy minority leader and others on March 16. The report was supposed to be presented to the House before this time.”
In his contribution, the Minority Leader, Kingsley Chinda, urged the House to act swiftly to avert the planned strike.
Meanwhile, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, on Thursday, lamented that Nigeria was just the ‘Giant of Africa’ without reasonable salaries for its workers.
While expressing that it is tired of excuses, it also decried the weakness of the naira amid the current economic challenges in the country.
The National President, Festus Osifo, stated this during the South-West Labour Summit, with the theme: “Repositioning The Labour Movement Amidst Economic Decline in Nigeria,” held at the International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State.
Osifo said, “We called ourselves the Giant of Africa, yet we can’t pay a reasonable minimum wage. We are tired of the government telling us to continue coping.”
He said Nigerian workers were facing a lot of financial challenges, as he urged the Federal Government to ensure the economy of the nation was well managed so that the naira could have more value and compete with others across the world.
On the ongoing minimum wage negotiation, Osifo said what Nigerian workers wanted was not just a minimum wage but a living wage.
