Labour Union Accuses FG Of Derailing Increased Welfare Packages For Workers

Organised Labour under the aegis of the Trade Union Side (TUS) of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council (JNPSNC) yesterday stressed the need for the Federal and State Governments to implement the new national minimum wage or face the wrath of workers.

Comrade Abdrafiu Alani Adeniji, Chairman, TUS, in a press statement issued in Abuja, lamented the plan by the government to “derail” increased welfare packages for workers.

Adeniji regretted that instead of the Federal Government to send a bill to the National Assembly to enact the 2018 National Minimum Wage Act, it has elected to embark on a fruitless plot to subvert the entire negotiation that took more than one year to conclude.

“How can the Federal Government want to sabotage a democratically agreed National Minimum Wage that was even voted for and agreed upon by all the stakeholders?

“We call on the Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) that participated actively and fully in the negotiation to speak out and tell the world the whole truth on what transpired before the new National Minimum Wage was arrived at,” the union stated.

He posited that labour was in the exclusive legislative list and as such the Federal Government should proceed to enact the National Minimum Wage Act, instead of trying to intimidate workers by threatening no work no pay on the workers.

The body said that no amount of intimidation from the government would cow them from demanding for their right.

According to the TUS, since State Governors were represented at the tripartite committee that negotiated the new National Minimum Wage, it was surprising that the same government would turn around to express reservations on the recommendations of the panel.