By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has threatened to shut down the country for a month over plans by the National Assembly to deregulate the Minimum Wage.
President of NLC, Joe Ajaero, who spoke on the sideline of the 67th Annual General Meeting, AGM, in Lagos, insisted that minimum wage is a national issue.
Ajaero warned that organised labour would not accept a situation where governors working with the members of the National Assembly would imposed slave wage and poverty on workers and Nigerian citizens.
According to the NLC President: “As we are here, a Joint Committee of the Senate, the House of Representatives, and the Judiciary are meeting. They have decided to remove section 34 from the Exclusive legislative list to the concurrent list so that the state governors can determine what to pay you and so that there will be no minimum wage again. You cannot decide what you should earn.
The very moment the House of Representatives and the Senate come up with such a law that will not benefit Nigerian workers, they will be their drivers and gatemen, and there will be no movement for one month.
We cannot accept any situation where the governors and the National Assembly members will foist a slave wage on workers and force poverty on the citizens. Organised Labour will not accept it.”