N70,000 minimum wage: How Tinubu betrayed labour using fuel price – NLC
The Nigeria Labour Congress said on Thursday that President Bola Tinubu betrayed organised labour by using the price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, as bait.The organised labour stated that during the negotiation that resulted in the organised labour's acceptance of N70,000, President Tinubu offered not to raise the petrol price.
NLC President Joe Ajaero stated this at the start of a two-day workshop in Lagos titled "Minimum Wage Implementation Workshop, Southern Zone."
Ajaero claimed that there were attempts to divert the labour movement's attention with allegations of "cybercrime, financing terrorism, sponsoring terrorism, and the rest."
Ajaero stated that the current cost of petrol has undermined the benefits of the yet-to-be-implemented N70,000 national minimum wage, urging the government to address the pressing issues of hunger, poverty, and frustration that Nigerians face.
Ajaero recounted discussions with President Tinubu before the acceptance of the N70,000 minimum wage, stating that during negotiations, President Tinubu offered the option of accepting the N70,000 wage without further increase in fuel prices.
He added that the president had given them the option of accepting a higher wage of N250,000 or an increase in fuel prices at the pump.
Ajaero stated that the labour movement chose N70,000 because of the hardship that further increases in fuel prices would cause for the masses if workers settled for a wage of N250,000.
"There is a strategy to divert our attention, to call us names and level accusations against us for cybercrime, financing terrorism, sponsoring terrorism, and so on.
"Those efforts have paid off because, while we are dealing with those allegations, the issue of pump price has persisted.
"I repeat, we were betrayed by Mr President. Government officials are denying the statement we issued about our betrayal. I am repeating myself: we were betrayed. Some of you were in the meeting when Mr. President said, "Ajaero, you are the problem."
Ajaero quoted President Tinubu as saying, "Since we said the subsidy is gone. You do not want us to increase again. If you allow me to increase, we will pay you N250,000."
He went on, "The president said I'd give you an hour to decide and get back to me. He said he was going back to his office and that we should make a decision (between the N250,000 minimum wage and the increase in petrol prices).
"We said no, sir, Mr President; we cannot hold our meeting here in your office. Let us take a one-week break and report back to you.
"He said, okay, I'm going to travel, but I'll cancel for a week. That's how we ended our one-week session.
"If you followed the pattern of those negotiations, we adjourned for a week. And when we returned from consultations, we told Mr. President, "No, we cannot allow you to increase the length because it will affect all Nigerians and we will be seen as selfish."
"Even the N250,000 will not help us. If we continue to raise salaries, our economy will suffer, and you will have to raise pump prices even more. In fact, N250,000 may not even be enough to purchase fuel."
He added, "Mr President also offered to fund our trip to tour some West African countries, where the lowest price of petrol is N1,700. He even stated that in Cameroon, they sell N2,000 and that none of them have a refinery, but they source their products from Nigeria.
"We responded by telling him to check the borders, as that is why they are smuggling those products into those countries. We also said no because Nigerians will claim they have given us money, but they will not say it is for us to visit those West African states."
Ajaero stated that on the adjourned date, they "went there and told Mr President that we are not here for an increase in pump prices or to negotiate." So, let's focus on the minimum wage. Some of these factors influenced the acceptance of the N70,000 minimum wage, which some of us here argued was insufficient. However, some people continue to claim that they are unable to pay N70,000.
"This is the dilemma we are all facing. In fact, the private sector employers who attended our meeting were difficult to deal with. They refused to shift, preferring to vote with the state government, federal government, and private sector on one side and against labour on the other. These were some of the factors that prompted the walkouts you witnessed."
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