Averting further breakdown in minimum wage negotiations

The two-day strike declared by workers on June 3 and 4, 2024, was clearly avoidable and the losses recorded across sectors uncalled for, if only the Federal Government and the Labour had taken steps to put the interest of the country above self consideration.

Workers’ welfare is a pre-requisite for attaining a productive public service. A careful balancing is needed to ensure that neither the economy nor workers suffer unduly in wage negotiations.
  
It is most unfortunate that the government and Labour are yet to reach a compromise on the minimum wage controversy, thereby plunging the country into a needless industrial face-off. All sides must realise that the economy will suffer if ongoing negotiations are not concluded in a manner that is realistic, fair and equitable.
 
Talks between the government and Labour on ways to cushion the adverse effects of fuel subsidy removal began after President Bola Tinubu announced on May 29, 2023, that the subsidy was gone. Since then, the price of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) has moved from N195 to over N500 per litre. It currently sells above N600 in some coastal states, and far more in the hinterland. Any marginal increase in fuel pump price has a ripple effect on prices of goods and services. For an increase of over 200 per cent, the impact on the cost of living has been astronomical.
 
That situation was compounded by the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) foreign exchange market operational measures announced on June 14, 2023, which have seen the Naira depreciate by around 70 per cent. This has translated to further increase in prices of commodities and services. Low naira value and low dollar inflow, for a country that is largely import-dependent could only mean higher costs. And workers are at the receiving end because families and relations depend on them for support.
  
As at April 2024, headline inflation rose to 36.69 per cent relative to 22.22 per cent in April 2023. The main drivers of inflation are high food prices as well as high transportation cost.

Government and Labour had agreed that a new minimum living wage will be worked out. The last minimum wage that was signed into law in 2019 expired on April 30, 2024. It became a matter of when a new wage will replace the old minimum wage of N30,000.
 
While details of a new wage were left for the 37-member Tripartite Committee appointed by the government in January to work out, the payment of a N35,000 wage award announced by the Federal Government had commenced, as a means to alleviate workers’ economic hardship pending the coming on board of a new wage. States were encouraged to pay the same amount but many of them have not shown sufficient commitment. Only a few have managed to pay part of the award.
 
We blame the Tripartite Committee for its failure to reach a consensus on a new wage before May 1, 2024, which was to be the commencement date. We hold that three months is more than enough for it to deliver on its mandate. We equally blame the Federal Government for not taking advantage of the sufficient time to wrap up negotiations and avert Labour’s indefinite strike, which was later suspended after two days.
 
We think that Labour went too far to switch off the national grid, which plunged the whole country into two days of darkness during the strike. The cost is only imaginable, not to mention the cancelled flights and the man-hours lost to the strike in an economy that is near prostrate.
  
We believe that all disruptions could have been avoided if the government had prioritised workers’ welfare as was promised during campaigns and manifesto presentations at the last general election. Tinubu promised to prioritise workers’ well-being in his Renewed Hope Agenda. He promised to pay a living wage and unleash prosperity among Nigerians. We are still waiting. Everyone knows that the cost of living has skyrocketed. It also manifests in unbearable costs in production of goods, which companies pass on to end users. Inflation has affected building materials, with inputs going for as high as 200 per cent. The cost is passed on as rent to workers.
  
State governors, who should bear the greater burden of providing for their workforce have taken the backseat in the negotiation for a new wage. They claim they cannot pay N60,000, but we charge them to be more accountable.
  
We have noted how profligate governors are and how they spend lavishly on themselves, in collusion with their legislators. They must reduce their excess allowances and frivolous travels to pay workers. States should learn to earn more and spend less. They should put on their thinking cap to engage in creative ventures that will boost their internally generated revenue. They must wean themselves of over-dependence on monthly allocation from the Federation Account. They must put an end to irresponsible and vain lifestyles.
 
Government must not allow this wage negotiation to be blown into a major crisis. How to overcome the present economic hardship in the land should engage leaders more, without adding to a deteriorated industrial climate.