Mixed reactions have trailed the decision of lawmakers to expunge wages issues from the exclusive legislative list. While the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC) are against the move, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) sees nothing wrong with it, TOBA AGBOOLA writes.
Attempts by the National Assembly (NASS) to remove wage-related issues from the exclusive legislative list and put them on the concurrent legislative list in the on-going fourth amendment to the 1999 Constitution, have been greeted by mixed reactions.
The organised labour, under the aegis of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Trade Union Congress (TUC), and the Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN) have perfected plans to resist what they described as an act of treachery to further drive the Nigerian workers to the extreme and pave the way for all forms of violent reactions.
While the TUC, last week, moved to Lagos to perfect its onslaught against the NASS, the leadership of the NLC converged in Abuja to fine tune strategies to thwart the move.
NLC’s President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar called on the whole workers in the country to be red-alert over the attempt by what he called “political hawks” to take food from their mouths. Omar, who insisted that the battle must be won added: “We at the Congress see the removal of Wages from the Exclusive List as an act of treachery masterminded by conservative governors and their cohorts in the NASS, which will do the polity no good.”
Omar warned that the consequences that would befall the nation’s economy would be unimaginable because of the decision of the NASS on minimum wages. He said: “We advise the lawmakers to hearken to the voice of reason and the voice of the people by urgently retracing their steps because the consequences of their action could be dire for the nation.”
Its General Secretary, Dr. Peter Ozo-Eson, also stated that the treacherous decision was masterminded by conservative governors. “We wish to state in no uncertain terms that the Congress will mobilise its members to resist this move,” he said. Ozo-Eson, who argued that the minimum wage laws are in force in approximately 90 per cent of countries in the world today, emphasised that Congress will not be cowed by the remaining 10 per cent of Nigerians opposed to the laws.
Its Deputy President, Comrade Joe Ajaero, while paying tribute to the House of Representatives, that did not contemplate removing wages from the Exclusive List, challenged the Senate to be ready for actions from the labour movement. “We recall that last year, our national campaign and mobilisation on this subject matter was suspended at the instance of the leadership of the Senate, which promised to revisit the issue now that they are better informed. “It is also worth recalling that the just concluded National Conference retained wages on the Exclusive List in deference to argument in favour of putting it on the Concurrent List,” Ajaero said.
In the same vein, the TUC’s President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, stated that the attempts by some elements within the Upper House to truncate the economic stability of the nation, needs swift mass action. He said TUC is worried that the Senate is feigning ignorance of the principle and concept of the minimum wage as practised in decent societies all over the world. Kaigama, who argued that the timing of the Senate’s decision was so close to the preparation for general elections next year, saw it as an attempt to provoke a national industrial crisis. He warned that unless the Senate wisely reverses its decision, Nigerian workers would not hesitate to resort to that option.
In Kaigama’s words: “We have explained as often as necessary that the basic rationale for the fixing of a minimum wage is to ensure that employees, particularly the unorganised and unskilled, are not exploited by their employers to the extent that their pay becomes so low that it creates a pool of the working poor. The Senate’s position will doubtlessly encourage the state governments to start paying starvation wages to their workers, whereas the current minimum wage of N18,000 cannot even meet the immediate needs of the poor masses. This is sure to heat up the polity and lead to predictably, unsavoury consequences.”
However, NECA disagrees insisting that there is nothing wrong in the decision of the lawmakers to move the minimum wage issue to the concurrent list. According to its Director General, Mr Segun Oshinowo, the ability to pay by employers, whether as government or as a private sector enterprise, is a key factor in employment relationship and sustenance of industrial harmony.
He said: “We commend this bold initiative by the NASS, as this is the right thing to do. It is, however, important for it to explain how all this will work out so that the state governments would not walk away with the belief that they would not be bound by the National Minimum Wage as and when the Federal Government legislates on this.”
He said as the voice of private sector employers, NECA equally have an interest in the issue. He stated there is need for everybody to be consistently reminded that Nigeria is operating a federal constitution, which ordinarily should ascribe significant power and responsibilities to the federating units, including the right and power of the component units to define and determine the minimum wage. He said NECA therefore, does not see anything wrong in the intention of the lawmakers to move minimum wage to the concurrent list.
Deputy Speaker/Chairman, House of Representatives Ad-hoc Committee on Constitution Amendment, Emeka Ihedioha, last week, tried to clarify the status of the issue in the constitution amendment by insisting that labour has not been removed from the Exclusive Legislative List.
He said it has become necessary to clarify that the conference report of the Constitution Review Committee recently adopted by the Senate and House of Representatives did not remove labour from the Exclusive Legislative List.
According to Ihedioha, the Senate had earlier put Labour on the Concurrent List but the House retained it in the Exclusive List. He stressed that during the harmonisation of the reports from the two chambers, the Conference Committee adopted the House version and retained labour on the Exclusive List.
He added that both the Senate and the House of Representatives have now adopted the Conference Committee Report, which retained labour on the Exclusive Legislative List because “we are at a loss as to where the false and misleading information on this matter emanated from,”.
