President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba has said that the federal government (FG) are refusing to cooperate with the on the proposed new minimum wage.
Mr Wabba made this known at the opening session of the 2018 meeting of the joint national public service negotiating council on Tuesday saying that the private sectors were actually cooperating with the labour unions on the proposed new wage.
In his words: “Private sectors have actually displaced the public sector in industrial relation and collective bargaining role model, our experiences during the negotiations for the new minimum wage showed that the employers in the private sectors are more forthcoming and forthright, moving negotiation forward to mutual acceptable figure, while government continues to live in denial and even stop the conclusion for the negotiation.
“Private employers remain willing to sustain industrial relation harmony by supporting positions that will ensure that workers get appreciable wages increase, while the government continues to politicize our agreement, devoid of genuine interest.”
Wabba also said state governments still owe salaries, pension, and arrears of civil servants despite several interventions in form of bail-out, Paris club refunds, other initiatives, and budgetary support.
