Governors Brace up for Workers’ Strike

Posted by admin Governors, Headlines Monday, August 1st, 2011

Following the stance of organised labour on the implementation of the N18,000 national minimum wage, state governors are bracing up for a “crippling” strike by workers, THISDAY has learnt.
In the meantime, the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, has appealed to workers across the country to consider the economy and “be patient with the Federal Government” over the wage imbroglio.
This is even as the reconvened meeting between the Federal Government and labour ended yesterday without any clear-cut word on the outcome.

A governor said at the weekend that the crisis had reached a stage now that “something has to give”.
“As I talk to you, only four states can comfortably pay without compromising their development programmes – Lagos, Rivers, Bayelsa and to some extent Delta. We have reached a stage now that if we pay, we are damned. If we don’t pay, we are damned,” he said.
According to him, the most viable option now is to prepare for a crippling strike that could last up to three weeks, with the hope that the labour leaders would eventually “see reason”.

“It’s a painful option, but the resources that go to the states cannot be solely for workers’ salaries. What of other citizens who are not civil servants? They too deserve to feel the impact of government. They too need to enjoy government services. It is their right. We can only hope that organised labour will see reason and return to the negotiating table. The N18,000 mark is simply not feasible,” he said, blaming the Federal Government for taking a political decision by promising an amount all tiers of government could not pay.
But as the Federal Government negotiating team with the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) hit a roadblock at the weekend, Wogu has appealed to workers to have a rethink on the stalemate.
Wogu was speaking at a church service in Abuja.

Represented by a Deputy Director in the Labour Ministry, Olujinmi Akindahunsi, Wogu noted that the strike being touted by labour would have a devastating effect on the economy, urging the workers to be patient with the government in finding a lasting solution to the matter.

“Government and labour should reach parity in the interest of the nation,” he said. “Labour strike is not good for the country’s economy; the country will lose more.”
By the terms of agreement with the NLC/TUC and the Federal Government on one side and the NLC/TUC and the 36 states governors, it was agreed that all negotiations on the payment of the minimum wage must be concluded by Sunday and the implementation process put in motion as from today.

Last Saturday, Federal Government’s negotiation with the NLC and TUC over the implementation of the agreement hit a brick wall.
Government’s negotiating delegation was led by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; Wogu; Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku; Head of Service of the Federation, Prof. Afolabi Oladapo; and Chairman of the National Commission of Salaries and Wages, Chief Richard Ebgune.

The workers’ representatives including the NLC Chief Economist, Dr. Peter Ozon-Eso; Acting Secretary General, Comrade Owei Lakemfa; Head of Human Resources, Emma Ugwaja; and TUC Secretary-General, Comrade John Kolawole, reportedly walked out on the meeting.

The outcome of Sunday night’s meeting remains unclear as while the government simply announced that it had been adjourned, while labour announced that the government had agreed to pay across board.
The Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) has said its agreement with labour over the wage issue is still intact.
The Director-General of the NGF, Ashiana Okuaru, told THISDAY Sunday that the governors were not involved in the on-going negotiation with the Federal Government.
He explained that in the meeting preceding the calling-off of the three-day warning strike, the governors reached an agreement with the NLC and TUC on the payment of the minimum wage.

Okuaru said: “The basic tenet of the agreement reached on the night the three-day warning strike was called off is that governors should negotiate with the respective NLC and TUC in their states based on the peculiarities in their states and this some of the governors have done, while others are on the verge of concluding theirs.”

-ThisDaywp_posts