The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) may be stoking another round of labour crisis as it declared on Friday that the N60,000 minimum wage proposed earlier by the Federal Government for workers is not sustainable and cannot fly.
“All things considered, the NGF holds that the N60,000 minimum wage proposal is not sustainable and cannot fly.
“It will simply mean that many states will spend all their FAAC allocations on just paying salaries with nothing left for development purposes,” the NGF said in a statement issued on Friday by its Director of Media and Public Affairs, Halimah Ahmed.
It said it was in agreement that a new minimum wage is due, while sympathising with labour unions in their push for higher wages.
The governors, however, urged all the parties to consider the fact that the minimum wage negotiations also involved consequential adjustments across all cadres, including pensioners.
The NGF warned parties in this crucial discussion to consider more than just signing a document for its own sake, emphasizing that any agreement should be realistic and sustainable.
“In fact, a few states will end up borrowing to pay workers every month. We do not think this will be in the collective interest of the country, including workers,” the governors said.
The governors appealed that all parties involved, especially the labour unions, consider all the socio-economic variables and settle for an agreement that is sustainable, durable, and fair to all other segments of society who have a legitimate claim to public resources.
Persecondnews recalls that the Federal Government had proposed N60,000 as the new minimum wage, but the labour unions rejected it and declared an indefinite strike.
Two days later, the strike was suspended after the Federal Government signed an agreement with labour unions to pay “above N60,000” as the new minimum wage.
No reaction yet from the organized labour in the country on the position of the governors as the suspension of the strike for five days expires on Saturday, June 8.
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