The Trade Union Congress (TUC) has threatened to go on strike over the non-implementation of the N30,000 new minimum wage.

It said about three months after the signing of the minimum wage into law, it is curious that it has not been implemented.

The group accused the Federal Government of not showing enough commitment to the implementation of the wage.

Speaking with The Nation, TUC President Comrade Quadri Olaleye, said the entire process lacked transparency.

According to him, the organised labour has been considerate enough by lowering its initial demand of increasing salaries of Grade Level (GL) 07 officers to 17 by 66.66 per cent as the rate at which the minimum wage was increased, yet the government is only offering 9.5 per cent for levels 07-14 officers and 5 per cent for GL 15-17.

He said the adjustment, which was supposed to be negotiated openly in the spirit of collective bargaining, had not been done.

He said: “As it stands, we may be forced to go to the trenches. We remain solidly behind the leadership of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council handling the negotiation on behalf of labour.”

He urged the Federal Government to act fast and direct its representatives to return to the negotiating table with a more realistic mandate that would be beneficial to workers who have waited for almost a decade to get a pay raise.

Olaleye expressed worry over the challenges facing workers and the sector.

He said: “We are disturbed that the enthusiasm that greeted the signing into law of the new national minimum wage of N30,000 per month is fast turning into a nightmare. From the look of things, it appears the Federal Government is not committed to implementing the new wage going by the way its representatives in the Committee set up to negotiate the adjustment arising from the new minimum wage are handling the negotiation. To say the least, the entire process is not transparent.

Olayeye threatened that the Organised Labour might be compelled to go to the trenches, and assured that the congress remained behind the leadership of the Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council handling the negotiation for Labour.

He, however, urged the government to act fast and direct its representatives to return to the negotiating table with a more realistic mandate that would be beneficial to workers who have had to wait for almost a decade to get something meaningful added to their emolument. (The Nation)

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