New Minimum Wage: Ogun Government Betrayed, Disappointed Workers – TUC
By ABIODUN JIMOH, ABEOKUTA
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, Ogun State Council has expressed shock, disappointment and indeed feeling of betrayal over the state government failure to live by its promises on payment of new minimum wage to workers.
The Acting Chairman of the Union, Comrade Akeem Lasisi disclosed this in his address at the commemoration of the 2020 International Labour Day held on Friday May 1st, 2020, at the TUC Secretariat, Abeokuta.
At the Labour Day with the theme ’60th Years of Nationhood: Insecurity, Wage, Poverty and the Future of Work in Nigeria,’ Comrade Lasisi hereby placed on record that the Congress was not privy to the decision of the government to backslide from the earlier agreement.
He said: “The Trade Union Congress, Ogun State Council is not unmindful of the current socio-economic realities that the state government is faced with, especially in the middle of the pandemic.
“However, it is only fair that we need to reiterate that labour force should be treated with utmost concern and attention amidst all of the fear-evoking situations in which we have found ourselves.
“It is no longer news that the state government have met and agreed with labour on the payment of the new minimum wage. In fact, government had earlier announced that workers would be paid their March, 2020, salaries based on the workings of the minimum wage.
He further noted: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, wishes to register its shock, disappointment and indeed feeling of betrayal as government failed to live by its promises. We wish to place on record that the Congress was not privy to the decision of the government to backslide from the earlier agreement.
“In furtherance to our bid as a labour centre to engender industrial peace and work force efficiency, we wish to remind government of its constitutional responsibility and moral obligations so as to think out of the box and re-engineer its economic machinery to be able to implement the payment of the new minimum wage in spite of everything that has happened since March to date.
“It is also of interest to reiterate the need for the state government to make payable in the shortest possible time the arrears of leave allowances owed workers in the state. Additionally, the arrears of global deductions, all labour unions and associations check of dues should be remitted without delay.”
