The Nigerian Labour Congress and the Federal Government are at loggerheads over the failure of the federal government to sustain the payment of the N35,000 wage award to workers, News About Nigeria reports.
The Head of information at the Nigeria Labour Congress, Benson Upah, disclosed this in an interview with PUNCH, stating that failure to continue with the payment, dishonors the intentions of the government and will not be accepted.
He noted that Congress will take action on the issue, adding that its actions will be dependent on the appropriate organs of the Congress, which includes communicating with the government before carrying out any action.
Upah while expressing optimism Thu’s talks on the new minimum wage would start soon, further disclosed that Congress will not accept any imposition of a new minimum wage by the Federal Government.
According to him, the national minimum wage law is a product of collective negotiation by all the critical stakeholders, workers, employers including the private sector, and the government, and maintained that stakeholders cannot fix it by issuing a decree.
He therefore noted that any unilateral action by any party will be contemptuous and injurious to other parties and will also be at variance with the law and principles governing this variant of minimum wage-setting procedure.
However, the spokesperson for the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, Bawa Mokwa, on Monday, assured civil servants in the country that they will receive their wage awards.
He noted that the process to pay the wage awards has commenced and is currently ongoing.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu, following the removal of the fuel subsidy by the Federal Government agreed to pay N35,000 to each of its workers to reduce the hardship caused by the subsidy removal.
