The minimum wage negotiation meeting involving Organised Labour, the federal and state governments, and the Organized Private Sector, OPS, Tuesday, ended in a stalemate with Labour’ rejection of the government’s offer of N54,000 minimum wage. Talks are expected to resume later on Wednesday, nevertheless.
Also, state governments were conspicuously absent to the dismay of labour leaders. The state governments sent their representatives to the meeting who reportedly claimed they had no mandate to make any offers.
Following the development, the Labour leaders berated the government for its seeming lack of interest in the matter, adding that with the absence of the six governors representing the six geopolitical zones in the country from the meeting, it made it extremely difficult to reach any major decisions.
Voicing its disapproval to the whole matter, Tuesday, the Campaign for Workers Democratic Right, called on labour leaders to mobilise workers for sustained mass action to actualise living wage and end all anti-people capitalists policies.
In a statement signed by the group’s national chairperson, Comrade Rufus Olusesan, and national publicity secretary, Comrade Chinedu Bosah, said: ‘’The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights, CDWR, calls on labour leadership not to turn this ultimatum to another empty threat like the previous one which has expired since March 13 without the NLC saying a single word, let alone a declaration of mass actions.
‘’Despite the ongoing negotiations, it is only a struggle anchored on mass mobilisation of Nigerian workers and the masses on a sustainable basis, demanding living wage and reversal of all anti-poor policies that can win reasonable concessions from an anti-people government. ‘’Therefore, after the expiration of the ultimatum, we propose a 48-hour general strike and mass protest as the first step. The struggle is going to be protracted, and so labour leaders should be prepared to sustain the mass actions through a programme of actions that allows workers to actively participate and be democratically involved.