New Minimum wage: Your threat to embark on nationwide strike unpatriotic, unethical – NATC tells labour

The Network for Accountability and Transparency Crusade (NATC), has condemned in strong terms the insistence of trade unions under the umbrella of NLC, TUC, and ULC, to go ahead with their proposed strike despite court order.

It described it as suspicious.

The workforce had called on Nigerians to stock their homes with food, stressing that there was no going back on their planned nationwide strike over the issue of minimum wage.

Recall that the Nigeria Governors’ Forum on Oct. 30 announced that states would only pay N22,500 minimum wage.

The organised labour in reaction called for the implementation of the tripartite committee report concluded on Oct. 5 or it would go on a nationwide strike.

Reacting, however, NATC said the threat by the NLC, TUC and ULC to embark on the indefinite strike if their demands were not met was a clear sabotage and unethical.

Dr. Roland Giwa, National Coordinator of the organisation, said NATC frowns at such disposition given the fact that it is aware that the government through the relevant agencies had indeed put forward tangible reasons why the N30,000 (Thirty Thousand Naira) minimum wage demanded by the labour unions was not feasible due to the precarious state of the nation’s finances.

According to him, “NATC is also aware that the government proposed an increment from the existing N18,000 to N24,000 and the labour leaders rejected it for reasons best known to them.

“NATC as an organization that is dedicated to accountability and transparency herby advises our labour leaders to rise above their interest by rejecting whatever overtures that have been extended to them by unscrupulous politicians that have done worse and will do worse if elected into positions of authority in Nigeria.

“This is also mindful of the fact that the organized labour should be the last group ever to disobey a valid court order in Nigeria or anywhere else in the world. And as such, the intended plan to defy a valid court order should be jettisoned.

“The organized labour in Nigeria has been known to stand for truth. They have been known to protect the interest of workers in general and not a select few. At the risk of portraying the organized labour in Nigeria as a dictatorial organization, and one with contempt for the rule of law, the labour leaders at the negotiating table should not allow the smell of filthy enticement make them lose their sense of dignity and that of the millions of workers that they represent.

“The Nigerian workers have been subjected to untold hardship over the years, and to think that the present administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has introduced measures towards alleviating their hardship should be commended and encouraged instead.”

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