"It is time to review the N18,000 minimum wage. If we had been united, this issue would have been resolved."
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba on Tuesday lamented infighting within the Nigerian labor movement, saying that such disunity has delayed national minimum wage review.
The labor leader disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Lagos.
He explained that the NLC has been advocating to raise the national minimum wage of N18,000, which was signed into law by former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2011. The depreciation of the naira has made this wage insufficient to sustain the livelihoods of workers, he said.
"It is time to review the N18,000 minimum wage. If we had been united, this issue would have been resolved," Mr. Wabba said. He said that the NLC submitted a formal demand to the federal government in 2015 to review the minimum wage, but the government has yet to establish an official committee to begin the review process. Mr. Wabba explained that such a committee is a necessary prerequisite to begin negotiations.
"For the minimum wage to be reviewed, it has to be tripartite. The employers' organization will be present, along with the government's representatives and organized labor," the union president said.
He said that securing a higher minimum wage would not be possible without unity among all workers.
"Everything that we have gotten as workers over the decades is through collective struggle. Government did not offer it on a platter of gold," Mr. Wabba said.
The union leader maintained that the economic recession should not interfere with minimum wage review, saying, "On the issue of recession, the NLC will soon arrive with an alternative to enable the government to solve its economic problem."
