The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Tuesday threatened to shut down states that were yet to begin the process of implementing the new minimum wage.
In a New Year message, NLC President Ayuba Wabba said the N30, 000 is now a law and no governor has an excuse not to implement the new minimum wage.
Comrade Wabba said the state councils of the congress had been directed to be on a standby for an engagement with states governors that were yet to commence implementation of the new wage.
He said: “We use this medium to implore states that are yet to implement the new national minimum wage, including the states that are yet to begin negotiation with labour on the consequential wage adjustment to speedily do the needful.
“In tandem with our position as adopted and communicated after a stakeholders’ meeting on December 11, 2019, organised labour in Nigeria will not guarantee industrial harmony in states that fail to implement the new national minimum wage by December 31, 2019. We direct our state councils to be on the standby to robustly engage state governments that fail to obey our laws.
“We wish to remind state governors that no excuse would be good enough for failure to pay. The ongoing revelations on the monumental looting perpetrated by former governors prove that only an intent to loot, and deadened conscience, not availability of resources would be the reason any governor would hesitate to pay workers the N30,000 new national minimum wage and the consequential adjustment in salaries.
“The new national minimum wage is now a law and state governors do not have the luxury to choose whether to pay or not.”
Speaking on the unemployment challenges in the country, Wabba said the congress would hold a national submit on job to bring stakeholders together to find a way out of the issues.
He also urged political office holders, as well as other Nigerians to patronise made in Nigeria goods so as to create jobs for the teaming populace.
“In the year 2020, the Nigeria Labour Congress will mount a very robust campaign for the generation of mass jobs and for already existing jobs to be decent.
“To this end, the NLC is perfecting plans for a National Job Summit in 2020. We will get stakeholders: experts, policymakers, concerned demographics and workers on a roundtable to find answers and solutions to Nigeria’s burgeoning unemployment crisis.
“In the spirit of growing the economy and creating jobs, we urge our compatriots especially our elite, to change our consumption habits. We must consume what we produce. We must patronise “Made in Nigeria”.
