Minimum Wage: We’ll pay, but… – President

Minimum Wage: We’ll pay, but… – President

News Nov 7, 2010 By DANIEL ETEGHE
AGAINST the backdrop of the threat by the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to embark on a three-day warning strike from Wednesday, should the Federal Government fail to implement a new minimum wage, President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, assured that the government would take some critical steps to meet the demand of labour over the N18,000 minimum wage. The President, however, stressed that he could not do anything about the new wage implementation immediately as the issue had to pass through all the sections of government as specified by law.
Speaking to aviation correspondents at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, Lagos, Jonathan noted that the government was able to increase the minimum wage from N7,500 to NI7,000 and that if it would be increased again, it had to go through a process before it could be implemented.
“I know that even if you leave the minimum wage at N18,000, there will still be increase along the line, the Federal Government will still effect it. If we are able to move from N7,500 to N17,000, the difference of 1,800 should not result to labour issues or strike.  So, we are engaging labour now to work out the issues. If it was salary increase, I don’t think we will be discussing this matter but this is minimum wage, because it is minimum wage, it has to pass through all the sections of government as specified by law. It must go to the National Assembly because the law must be made and the minimum wage does not affect only government employees and that is what Nigerians should know, this is because the private sector is also involved, “ he said.
He, however, noted that the government would have to make  consultations before taking any decision as regards any issue of the minimum wage, adding that the implication was what the Federal Government was considering before any decision would be taken.
… Cleric pleads with FG over strike
In another development, the General Overseer of Rhema Christian Church, Bishop Taiwo Akinola, has appealed to the Federal Government to respect the agreements it signed with NLC on the minimum wage to forestall a looming industrial crisis at this crucial moment of the nation’s political history.
Addressing newsmen in his church office in Ota, Ogun State, on the church’s 19th anniversary celebration, which also coincides with its annual convention, the bishop appealed to labour to be patient with government.
According to Akinola, the time had come for Nigerian governments to demonstrate the political will to deal with issues as they affect the generality of the country and not adduce some political expediencies that benefit only the political class.