By Ifeanyi Afuba
Sir: As far back as one can remember the issue of national minimum wage has been problematic both in comprehension and implementation.
From the 1981 N125 minimum wage act enacted by the Shehu Shagari government to the present N30, 000 minimum wage law passed by the National Assembly in 2019, there has been no shortage of disputes and industrial unrest.
Implementation of the 2019 N30,000 minimum wage package has continued to generate workers discontent at the states.
Labour unions have expressed dissatisfaction with the compliance of most state governments and issued ultimatum for full compliance or strike action. State chapters of organised labour are demanding the same adjustment rates granted to federal workers.
This agitation is supposedly justified on the ground that labour is on the exclusive legislative list and there are no separate minimum wage laws for states.
Relatedly, the grade level concept upon which remuneration is graded is definitive and applies to all government workers.
For instance, grade level 08 – 10 federal workers got ten thousand naira pay increase whereas many states added between four thousand and five thousand naira for the same category of workers.
State labour unions have every right to press for better deal for workers. They are in order demanding from the state governments, explanation on how they arrived at their adjustment figures.
Read Also: Minimum wage: NLC state councils to take action against erring govts
The first step is to continue discussions until grey areas are ironed out. Here, the example of the Anambra State Joint Negotiating Council which had suspended its earlier ultimatum on minimum wage implementation for further negotiation with the state government is commendable.
But time has also come for Labour to look at this issue holistically. It is not enough to negotiate salaries and other benefits with the federal government and expect that it will work automatically across the federation.
The states employ the bulk of the public workforce. Accordingly, any agreement signed with the federal government that does not create the capacity for states’ implementation is only a half executed project.
It is in the interest of labour for the states to be empowered and financially strong. Except this is done, labour unrest in the states will continue for some time to come.
Organised labour should not just be concerned but should be in the forefront of resolving these two issues. The first is the oddity of having a central labour law that applies to all when states should have their own labour laws.
The concurrent right of states to economic jurisdiction ought to be restored without further delay. Secondly, the current national revenue sharing formula is intolerable.
It is a shame that this product of military unitarism is still in operation 20 years into the Fourth Republic. The formula is an impediment to development and industrial peace.
The repeal of these two backward legislations is one area labour must deploy its activism. The time to mobilise and pile pressure on the National Assembly is now.
States are creaking under the huge economic and social burdens the present system has placed on them.
- Ifeanyi Afuba, <ifeanyichukwuafuba@gmail.com>
Leave a Reply