The Issue of the new minimum wage has been ongoing for quite some time but it only came to prominence towards the end of 2018 when members of the organised labour put pressure on government regarding wage increase. The labour groups showed how serious they are by embarking on a warning strike, threatening to further shutdown the country if their demands are not met.
The spectre of an industrial action continued to stir at the country through the tail end of the year and well into the new year as members of the organised labour seem dug in and threatened to shutdown the country on a number of times, to the extent of even publishing dates of the general industrial action.
They became particularly upset when it became apparent that President Buhari was not particularly in a hurry to have the new minimum wage bill sent to the National Assembly. The bone of contention was, it was revealed that the governors are not particularly sold on the idea of a N30,000 minimum wage for the states.
Many of them have come out to state that their state will not be able to meet the demands of labour, with many proposing a wage limit far lower than what labour wanted.
This may have informed president Buhari’s decision not to forward the bill to the National Assembly with many of the objecting governors being members of the ruling All Progressives Congress. However, the president’s delay brought out another series of angst in the labour movement, and being an election year, opposition party criticism added further pressure on the president to move forward with the bill and eventually, a date was announced for its presentation to the National Assembly.
However, this may not have come without some form of concession to the governor, as reports emerged that the minimum wage could be negotiated downward depending on the level of the worker, meaning the higher an individual the lower the percentage of the wage increment.
This particular line method of implementation is yet to get much response from the organised labour but it could particularly become a banana peel in the coming months.
At the moment, it would appear that President Buhari and the Bokola Saraki led National Assembly have agreed to a speedy passage of the minimum wage bill.
“We should be able to work hard to pass those bills that are fundamental and central to revamping the economy. “Bills that are central to re-engineering and reorientating the social environment, and generally making Nigeria a stable and safe country; we are determined to do that.
“The 2019 budget, for instance, is central even though we have to break at a point; shortly after resumption, say two weeks, maximum three weeks. “It is my judgment that we will be doing ourselves some good if we take second reading of the budget.
“That is, we will take the debate and general principles of the bill and then refer it to the committees on appropriation of the two chambers at least before we go,” The Leader of the Senate, Sen. Ahmad Lawan said.
The Senate leader spoke generally about the urgency needed to pass outstanding bills before the National Assembly went on recess before due to the upcoming elections. He however touched on the particular issue of the minimum wage bill as that which demand special attention and speedy passage.
He said: “It is crucial that we pass the bill on national minimum wage. I believe that the Executive has played its part. “I have no idea what it is at the moment, but I believe that it is one of those bills we should expedite legislative process on to get it passed to ensure that there is stability in the workforce.
“The workforce is what we rely on for the implementation of our various programmes and projects as a government. “I believe that when the bill comes, we should be able to do justice to it within the period we will be around.
“We should be able to slate it for first, second reading at least, and maybe immediately we resume we will pass it through third reading. “This is to ensure that the workers get a fair deal.
All look set for a peaceful resolution of the minimum wage issue, at least on the part of the Federal Government, however, things could get more complicated when the matter devolves to the states, with many of the governors openly raising objections, it could become an issue that will linger for far longer than previously anticipated.
However, with the cost is not totally clear on the Federal front also, with recent comments credited to president Buhari indicating that some form of concession would have to be made when implementing the wages, the confrontation could be far from over and some kind of industrial action could be expected in the not too distant future.
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