The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) on Wednesday vowed to continue with the push for N250,000 minimum wage in the country.
The Acting President of NLC, Mr. Adewale Adeyanju, disclosed this in a statement in Abuja.
He was reacting to President Bola Tinubu’s Democracy Day address in Abuja.
The president had in the address promised to send an executive bill on the minimum wage to the National Assembly.
The Federal Government had offered N62,000 as the new national minimum wage at the end of the tripartite committee meeting involving the Organised Private Sector (OPS).
However, the NLC commended the president’s commitment to the fine democratic ideals which allowed the work of the Tripartite National Minimum Wage Negotiation Committee to proceed unhindered despite some hiccups.
Adeyanju said: “Our demand remains N250,000 only and we have not been given any compelling reasons to change this position which we consider a great concession by Nigerian workers during the tripartite negotiation process.
“We are, therefore, surprised at the submission of Mr. President over a supposed agreement.
“We believe that he may have been misled into believing that there was an agreement with the NLC and TUC.
“There was none and we must let the President, Nigerians, and other national stakeholders understand this immediately to avoid a mix-up in the ongoing conversation around the national minimum wage.”
He noted that the NLC had not seen a copy of the document submitted to President Tinubu and would not accept any doctored document.
He, however, reaffirmed the union’s belief that the president on whose table the tripartite committee’s report presently resides would prepare an Executive Bill whose content would reflect the true demand of Nigerian workers.
“We think that this is an opportunity for him to demonstrate his love for Nigerian workers and masses.
“That is by shunning the pieces of advice that may be coming from those whose intentions are continuously focused on hurting the poor and struggling workers of Nigeria.
“Mr. President should not allow these individuals and groups to sabotage his promise of lifting Nigerian workers out of poverty.
“The president’s advisers did not tell him the truth that the leaders of the trade unions were intimidated and harassed.
“It is, therefore, important that Mr. President understands that we were threatened severally by his operatives perhaps without his consent.
“Series of media propaganda calculated to intimidate and harass us were, and, are still being waged against the trade unions by senior officials of this government.
“Fully armed soldiers surrounded us while we were in a negotiation with the government,” the NLC chief stated.
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