In this interview with Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf, Comrade Joe Ajaero, President, United Labour Congress (ULC), holds the view, and very strongly too, that workers are overdue for a new minimum wage. Excerpts:
The NLC is saying that the federal government should increase the minimum wage to N56,000, while the federal government is suggesting N45,000. But your group has proposed N96,000. What informed your choice of N96,000?
Anybody suggesting anything short of what we’ve proposed may not be totally realistic, given the prevailing situation on ground. The N96, 000 we proposed was based on the cost of living index; we didn’t just happen on it. You’re aware that a bag of rice costs around N18,000 -20,000. You’re equally aware of what the cost of a two-bedroom flat is in the suburbs and you equally understand the implication of living in the suburbs, in terms of cost of transportation to and fro your office, for those working in the cities and all that. Transportation alone can take up to N15,000 -20, 000 in a month, whether you fuel your car or go by public transport. Even electricity bills in some of these houses, i.e. two-bedroom flats amount to as much as N10,000 -15,000 in a month. You have not talked of even feeding, school fees. Even in paying rent for a two-bedroom flat, there is no way you won’t pay up to N20, 000 in a month, no matter how magnanimous the landlord is. So, if you calculate these, you can’t be talking of N56, 000. That’s why we opted to use the cost of living index. And we didn’t even factor the fact that the family concerned will take ill and as such may require medical attention at some point. You know inflation is not constant. You can’t predict that rice will continue to be N20, 000. For us at ULC, N96, 000 is a realistic estimation. Normally, if you make a proposal, there would be negotiations. Even if you make a proposal for N20, 000, it would still be negotiated and some may even call for the reduction of the existing minimum wage and come up with their own suggestions. So that’s exactly what we feel.
So you think your position is very realistic?
Yes, it’s very realistic. In fact, we ask and challenge anybody to say that a family of husband and wife with four children will not take N96, 000 in a month, in order to avoid moonlighting as is the case presently, where you see some people juggling several jobs, thereby giving room for corruption and sharp practices in the system.
Do you think the government will be able to afford the proposed N96, 000, given the economic realities on ground?
What are the economic realities? I need you to tell me the economic realities.
Of course, there is the issue of dwindling revenue due to the crash in the price of crude oil, which is the mainstay of the economy and all that.
(Cuts in). Let me tell you, what we have is leadership recession not economic recession in the real sense of the word. If we fix the leadership recession, the economic recession will disappear. I say this without prejudice to the prevailing health of the president. Given the fact that Nigeria was not founded on the basis of oil; oil was a later day discovery. If you ask around, you find out that all the indexes of development in Nigeria were present even under the regional governments and all that. The question to ask is: what happened, for instance, to the agrarian economy? Did anything change? People are now telling us that everything revolves around oil. But I tell you oil is the major problem and especially importation of petroleum products in a country where we have refineries. If we cut down on 50% of these so-called subsidies on oil as a result of the landing cost to and fro, we can even pay more than the N96, 000 we have proposed as new minimum wage.
There are fears that the new minimum wage is going to have a ripple effect on the economy from inflation, cost of living, as well as the private sector, thus necessitating the need for caution. Are these fears unfounded?
It doesn’t take minimum wage or salary increase for prices of staple foods to go up. No. But when they go up, it diminishes the minimum wage. Minimum wage can’t be constant when other commodities go up. The answer is no because if somebody is earning N18, 000, he will only be able to buy rice and nothing else. That person can’t even have a roof over his head. The argument that the minimum wage will cause inflation does not hold water because that is not the only cause of inflation. The inability to run the economy by the state drivers or operators is the worse cause of inflation. The devaluation of your currency is worst.
Now to the second leg of your question, the only way to have a robust private sector or informal sector is by empowering the worker. If we empower him and increase his purchasing power, then that garri, bournvita or milk you’re producing will be sold. If those who are supposed to have purchasing power don’t have money, those industries will close down. So nobody should come up with any economic analysis that the new minimum wage will affect the economy in any way.
Among the states, only Gombe has hinted that they are willing to pay the N56, 000 being proposed, whereas some states are saying they can no longer cope with the payment of the existing N18, 000, especially those who are owing backlog of salaries like Osun, Imo and the rest of them. So how do you reconcile this?
I think we have a lot of enemies of the working class. Edo is presently paying N25, 000 and they do not owe backlogs. Gombe has been up to date. They have been paying salaries and bonuses. The question to ask is, is Gombe more viable than Imo or Osun? The answer is no. What is it that is making Gombe state say they will pay or that is making Edo pay N25, 000? Until we retrench governors in the areas where you have these problems, the states will not move on. Even if you say it’s N10, 000, such states will still find it difficult to pay. As workers, our survival is not at their pleasure and that is why the new minimum wage must be negotiated. I think the states that are behind should go to the states that have gotten it right and learn from them.
Do you have trust in the composition of the Tripartite Committee set up by the federal government? How representative is this Committee and are you working in sync with other sister labour unions to drive this process?
Well, we have gotten one or two worrying signals from the other groups that are working in close collaboration with the Nigerian government. My group, ULC, came into existence December 2016, so we’re quite young. So, if previously the agreement had been between the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress as the only labour centres in the country then and there is need for another minimum wage review, and they insist that it is only the same groups that should be part of it, what you’re doing is that you’re throwing up issues to say that whatever you’re going to discuss if we’re not invited, you cannot represent our interest. On the other issue of saying these other people are here, even if you say they were with you before and they’re not with you now, and they constitute a fraction or a percentage and their inputs could be needed, you can’t take that stand. By knowledge of insight, it looks like what happened last year when the fuel crisis was on. Many Nigerians were saying that we were not on strike and that was why the strike collapsed. And since that time I don’t think anybody has thought of going on strike. It then means that the source and strength of the movement is lying somewhere and you don’t want to recognise where this strength of the labour union lies. So two ways: you can go and negotiate without the ULC, which is our group and if we wish, we say thank you, good luck. And when you go there, which was what happened during the fuel crisis, and you say we will not be part of this meeting and you say you’re having an action and we say, well, we didn’t agree with you on any action and you’re telling Nigerians that we sabotaged you. Now, you’re creating the ground for another scenario to emerge to say we are not with you. We can agree that we are not with you and tell you that you can’t do anything and that tells you that the strength is somewhere. Or we can display that strength for once in Nigeria which we have been keeping idle but we feel it is not necessary.
So if they say we’re not part of this, and we force the banks to close, especially the ones that are here in Lagos, the pilots don’t fly, there is electricity shutdown and fuel supply is grounded for one week and let’s see what happens. So these are the two possible scenarios. I’m happy you’re bringing up this issue. It’s a scenario that is trying to evolve. I can assure you that we’re not going to beg them to be a part of the negotiations for the national minimum wage meeting. But nobody should blame us if we choose not to go along with whatever decisions or call to action the labour movement might initiate within the next few weeks.
But have you sent representation to the federal government?
Yes, of course. We have written to the federal government to say, there is a scenario that would emerge in case you don’t know. So having placed them on notice, they won’t be taken unawares. But you see, government has a way of operating and people can play into their hands.
From what you said, the government wants to apply the divide and rule tactics, considering the frosty relationship existing among the labour unions just like what happened during the fuel crisis?
Well, I think it is not the government that played that role then. All my life I have never spoken for government. But I think that it was due largely to political and industrial relations naivety on the part of my comrades that led to that. We mentioned the issue of fuel crisis. I was there when the president of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG), Mr. Igwe Achese, who when he saw the members of the NLC, at the first meeting they held, said, why are you bringing NLC here? Ayuba Wabba is not my president. We’re discussing fuel increase, so he cannot speak for me. And in the next meeting, the federal government sent for me, saying it was an error and all that. We were at the meeting where we even discussed electricity tariff and all that. The government learnt that I was even the General Secretary of National Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE). As we speak, my group and NLC are currently part of a dialogue panel to address the issue of electricity tariff increase and we have been meeting from time to time. As I said, the federal government did not necessarily create the division among the labour but some sectional interest within the unions led to that.