Austin Ebipade, Yenagoa
Labour leaders in Bayelsa State have expressed their resignation in the approved minimum wage for state and federal civil servants in the country, even as they averred that N27, 000.00 was abysmal as it would further worsen the condition of workers.
Speaking with journalists, in Yenagoa, the state’s Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Ebipre John Ndiomu, said the proposed minimum wage was unacceptable.
He said the decision of the national council of states took him by surprise, stressing that what has been approved by the tri-apartheid committee must be upheld, and urged worker to abide by the earlier directive of the union to vote out public office seeker and holders who are not willing to pay the N30, 000.00 minimum wage to workers.
According to him, the workforce is the engine room of government at all levels, stressing that without the civil servants government policies and programmes would remain comatose.
Ndiomu noted that workers who are not motivated would go about their job with unserious attitude, stressing that they work become apathy and that singular act could bring the wheel of government to a halt.
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The state NLC Boss, also noted that minimum wage in some African countries whose economy is not striving as ours (Nigeria) gets improved minimum wage; and reason why same or much better minimum wage be given to Nigerian workers.
Calling on the Federal Government to approve the N30, 000.00 without delay, Ndiomu lamented that the minimum wage could hardly savage most family in the country, particularly because of the many bills people are subjected to in the country such as, electricity, water, house rent, school fees, foodstuff, toiletries and other general expenses on a daily basis.
Also, the state Chairman of the Trade Union Congress, Comrade Tari Dounana, on his part, faulted the decision of the national council of states, stressing that affiliate union would not only reject it but would also resist the federal government from reneging on earlier reached agreement with the tri-apartheid body.
He pointed that the Federal Government had no ground to determine another minimum wage outside what is agreed by the tri-apartheid meeting, stressing that their action if not reversed by approving the agreed wage is capable of projecting a showdown on the economy; and that would cripple of sectors of the nation’s economy.
To this end, Dounana, however, called on workers to hold on in the struggle and not retreat, stressing that nothing good comes easy.
