NLC rejects call to decentralise minimum wage negotiations

Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has opposed some politicians’ calls for decentralised minimum wage negotiations.

Adebayo Aribatise, secretary of NLC in Oyo State, spoke with journalists on Sunday in Ibadan and said decentralising minimum wage negotiations would be at workers’ disadvantage in some states.

Some politicians had recently called for decentralised minimum wage negotiations. One of them, Kayode Fayemi, stressed the need for allowing states to conduct wage negotiations with their labour unions, separate from the federal government.

Mr Fayemi, a former governor of Ekiti, said the position of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, of which he was once the chairman, was that states should be allowed to negotiate with their labour unions, as “fingers are not equal.”

Explaining the broader implications of a centralised minimum wage, the former governor noted that only a small percentage of the population benefits directly from minimum wage negotiations.

However, Mr Aribatise frowned at decentralising minimum wage negotiations, saying it was not ideal for the country.

He noted that some states had not yet fully implemented the old N30,000 minimum wage despite NLC’s efforts at the national and state levels.

Besides, the labour leader said some governors would abuse the privilege if they were allowed to negotiate minimum wage with their states’ workforce.

“The fact remains that the law binds states to pay national minimum wage. It is expected that the federal government will continue to set the minimum wage. If not, some governors will continue to do as they like.

“Some governors will bastardise the agreement if we allow it, and junior workers will continue to earn nothing worthwhile,” he said.

(NAN)