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.