Organised
labour has called off the nationwide industrial action scheduled to commence on
Tuesday (today) to press home workers’ demand for a new national minimum wage.
The National
Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Ayuba Wabba, announced the suspension
at the end of the 10pm meeting of the tripartite committee set up to come up
with the new minimum wage on Monday.
Wabba said
the decision to suspend the action was reached after agreements were reached
and documents signed.
“Having
reached this position and agreements signed, the proposed strike action is
hereby suspended,” the labour leader said.
Wabba,
however, refused to disclose the figure of the new minimum wage arrived at by
the committee.
He said the
figure would only be made public after the committee’s report would have been
presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by 4.15pm on Tuesday.
He, however,
said only one figure would be presented to the President.
The Chairman
of the committee, Amma Pepple, expressed delight that their assignment had been
concluded.
“I am happy
to report to you that we have concluded our assignment and we will submit our
report to the President by 4.15pm on Tuesday.
“We will
reveal the figure at the presentation,” she said.
The
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, thanked members
of the committee for doing a wonderful job.
He described
the process as a long journey.
“The
committee has worked assiduously to reach the conclusion,” he said.
Earlier, the
tripartite committee set up by the Federal Government to come up with a new
national minimum wage for the country concluded its assignment on Monday.
The
committee chaired by a former Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Amma
Pepple, had recommended two figures, N24,000 and N30,000, for minimum wage.
Pepple
disclosed this to journalists at the end of the committee’s marathon meeting
held to beat the indefinite strike action declared by labour unions and
scheduled to start on Tuesday.
In the
process of negotiation, state governors said they could only pay N22,500; the
Federal Government proposed N24,000 while the labour and organised private
sector settled for N30,000.
The labour
and the Federal Government did not shift ground at the Monday meeting.
Pepple said
the committee would present the two figures to the executive arm of government
which will take a final decision after due consultation.
She said the
final decision would thereafter be sent to the National Assembly.
“We have concluded
but we have a little challenge about Chapter 5 of our report. That is the
section where we report the negotiation and the figures we used for negotiation
and the figure that we concluded on.
“The
committee came up with two figures. The Federal Government suggested N24,000
and labour, as well as the organised private sector, gave a figure of N30,000.
“There is no
stalemate. We have finished and we have signed the report but what we are
insisting on is that the strike should be called off. We are waiting for the
President to give us a date to submit the report. The report will go through a
process. It will go through the Federal Government as well as the National
Assembly.”
On the industrial
action scheduled to commence on Tuesday, Pepple said, “We have pleaded with
them (labour leaders) to call off the strike and they have said they are going
to consult. So we are likely to come back. We shall be reconvening at 10pm.”
The Minister
of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, also told reporters that the government
was making progress.
He insisted
that the N24,000 figure of the Federal Government was based on ability to pay
and sustainability, stressing that the state governors who proposed N22,500
would have no choice but to adopt the Federal Government’s figure.
The minister
said, “We are making progress. The governors’ figure should be the figure of
the Federal Government. We are just trying to carry them along; otherwise, the
Federal Government speaks for the government.
“The figures
are standing but you know that there are other processes. It will get to the
National Economic Council, Council of State and then an Executive Bill will be
sent to the National Assembly.
“The Federal
Government figure of N24,000 is noted and it is also weighty because it is
based on ability to pay and sustainability.
He added,
“The labour is satisfied. We have done the needful and we have crossed the
Rubicon. The only aspect we need to do now is to fix an appointment to present
the report to the President.
“We are
reconvening tonight because that appointment has to be made. Mr President has
gone home; he is not just sitting idle. We have sent message to the place and
we are making necessary contacts. If we get the appointment now, we will reconvene
and decide what to do.
“The state
governors have no choice now because they have attached themselves to us as the
supreme sovereign, they are the minor sovereign.”
Representatives
of the labour union that attended the meeting have yet to speak with
journalists as of the time of filing this report.
While some
of them left and insisted that they would not talk until after the meeting
slated for 10pm, some others remained at the venue of the meeting.
The Kebbi
State Governor, Atiku Bagudu, who represented governors on the committee also
did not talk to journalists before leaving the venue.
The Minister
of Finance, Zainab Ahmed; and the Minister of Budget and National Planning, Udo
Udoma, also refused to talk to journalists.
The two
ministers left the venue earlier than others.
While the
reconvened 10pm meeting of the tripartite committee was still ongoing, the Head
of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs Winifred Oyo-Ita, on Monday night
ordered all workers to ensure they resume at their duty posts on Tuesday.
She said the
order became necessary because the National Industrial Court had restrained the
Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress from embarking on strike
from Tuesday as scheduled.
The order
was contained in a circular titled ‘Notice of court injunction on proposed
strike action: Directive for compliance’ and dated November 5, 2018.
The circular
was signed on behalf of the HOCSF by the Permanent Secretary, Service Welfare
Office, Mrs Didi Walson-Jack.
She asked
all Permanent Secretaries to ensure strict compliance with her directive.
The circular
read, “The attention of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation has
been drawn to the order of interim injunction by the Abuja Division of the
National Industrial Court of Nigeria dated November 2, 2018 restraining the
Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress and their members from
embarking on or taking part in the strike or industrial action to commence on
Tuesday, November 6, 2018.
“In view of
the above, I am directed to inform you that all staff are expected to continue
to report at their duty posts to carry out their duties pending the hearing and
determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.
“All
Permanent Secretaries and Heads of extra-Ministerial Departments and Agencies
are to bring the content of this circular to the attention of their staff and
ensure strict compliance.”
Earlier,
President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday appealed to the leadership of the
Nigeria Labour Congress to consider the rot, he claimed, his administration
inherited and call off its planned strike.
Buhari made
the appeal at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when he received members of the
Association of Retired Career Ambassadors of Nigeria led by Ambassador Oladapo
Fafowora.
The appeal
came barely 24 hours to the commencement of the indefinite industrial action
called by labour unions to press for a new national minimum wage.
Buhari said
the workers needed to show more understanding.
“President
Buhari also appealed to the Nigeria Labour Congress to consider what this
government inherited and the more it is doing with fewer resources in putting
the economy right,” a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, read.
Buhari
assured Nigerians that his administration would sustain investments to upgrade
and develop the country’s transport and power infrastructure.
He said,
‘’There is no part of the country I haven’t been to, having attempted to be
President four times. I know the condition of our roads. The rails were
literally killed; there was no power despite the admittance of some previous
leadership that they spent $16bn on the sector.
“Today, we
are getting our priorities right and we believe that of the three fundamental
issues we campaigned on, security, the economy and fighting corruption, we have
remained very relevant and Nigerians believe we have achieved something.”
Buhari’s
appeal came just as the National Industrial Court of Nigeria in Abuja, also on
Monday, rejected a request for a fresh order to stop the organised labour from
embarking on its planned strike scheduled to commence on Tuesday (today).
The court
presided over by Justice Sanusi Kado also refused to grant a prayer for an
order to compel the government to immediately commence the process of adopting
N30,000 as the new national minimum wage.
Justice Kado
said it would be unnecessary to make another order stopping labour from
embarking on the planned strike having earlier made a similar one in a case
brought to the court by the Federal Government on Friday.
The Federal
Government had filed its suit following the threat by the organised labour,
comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress, the Trade Union Congress, and the
United Labour Congress, to embark on strike if its demand to increase the
national minimum wage from N18,000 to N30,000 was not met.
Contrary to
the labour’s demand, the Federal Government said it could only pay N24,000 as
minimum wage and the state governors under the aegis of the Nigeria Governors’
Forum, had stuck to N22,500.
The
lingering dispute between government and the labour prompted the Federal
Government to seek and obtain the court order to stop the strike. Labour
however denied receiving any notice or order from any court.
The fresh ex
parte application seeking to stop labour from embarking on the strike and to
also compel government to commence the process of paying the N30,000 minimum
wage was filed by a civil society group, Kingdom Human Rights Foundation
International.
The group’s
lawyer, Mr Okere Nnamdi, at the Monday’s proceedings, informed the court that
he filed his client’s ex parte motion alongside other processes on November 1.
He urged the
court to grant the prayers, including the one seeking an order of substituted
service of the court processes on the governors joined as the 10th to the 45th
defendants in the suit.
But the
judge immediately cut in, asking the lawyer if it would still be necessary to
proceed to hear the application, in view of the Friday’s order made by the same
court.
Okere
conceded that he was aware of the order made by the judge on Friday.
But Nnamdi
argued that his ex parte motion was different from that of the Federal
Government, save for the prayer seeking an order stopping the planned strike,
which is contained in both applications.
The judge
insisted that the court having, on Friday, granted an order to stop the strike,
there was no longer any form of urgency in the matter, and as such, it was not
necessary to compel the government to start the process of adopting the N30,000
as the new national minimum wage.
Following
the judge’s explanation, the plaintiff’s lawyer applied to withdraw two of the
prayers having to do with the request for an order stopping the planned strike
and the other seeking to compel the government to pay N30,000.
Strike
threat causes panic
In response
to the workers’ strike, residents of Asaba and environs on Monday abandoned
offices and stores to besiege various bank galleries in Asaba, the state
capital, to make withdrawals ahead of today’s strike.
Survey
across the state revealed that there were unusually long queues of customers
withdrawing money from virtually all the Automated Teller Machines of
commercial banks, especially within the Asaba metropolis.
One of the
customers, simply identified as Okechukwu, said he was shocked to see such an
unusual crowd, despite the fact that neither the state nor the local councils had
paid the November salaries.
Another
customer, Mr Monday Jindu, told the Media that attention was shifted to the
ATMs because of the failure of some of the banks to attend to the customers.
“I enter
inside the bank, the queue is long, even the PoS inside the bank was not
working and I came back to ATM again, yet unable to dispense cash. The problem
is that tomorrow is strike, so coming back tomorrow is another issue because no
money will be in the ATM.
“I have gone
to three banks this morning to withdraw, I couldn’t, some banks that have up to
three to four ATMs, only one will be working which cannot serve the crowd.”
An old woman
who did not want her name in print said she had to join the long queue despite
health challenges because there were rumours that the banks might fully join
the strike.
“I am here
to withdraw the little balance I have in my two accounts before the money in
the ATMs is exhausted. I had spent all I have on my children who went to school
on Sunday.” she said.
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