President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ayuba Wabba,
says that the Federal Government was operating on denial over the new
minimum wage.
Wabba pointed out that private sectors wer actually cooperating with
the labour unions on the proposed new wage than the government.
Wabba stated this in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State on Tuesday during the
opening session of the 2018 meeting of the joint national public service
negotiating council.
He stressed that private sectors pay their workers higher than those in public service.
He said: “Private sectors have actually displaced the public sector
in industrial relation and collective bargaining role model, our
experiences during the negotiations for the new minimum wage showed that
the employers in the private sectors are more forthcoming and
forthright, moving negotiation forward to mutual acceptable figure,
while government continues to live in denial and even stop the
conclusion for the negotiation.
“Private employers remain willing to sustain industrial relation
harmony by supporting positions that will ensure that workers get
appreciable wages increase, while government continues to politicize our
agreement, devoid of genuine interest.”
He added that state governments still owe salaries, pension and
arrears of civil servants despite several interventions in form of
bail-out, Paris club refunds, other initiatives and budgetary supports.