President Muhammadu Buhari will soon set up an all-inclusive committee of 29 persons to examine the persistent demand of labour groups for N56,000 minimum wage.
The panel to be known as the National Minimum Wage Review Committee is expected to negotiate with the labour groups in the country and prepare a report to be submitted to the president.
Minister of labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige, on Friday said the report submitted by the committee will be subjected to scrutiny by the National Assembly before it is implemented by government.
He noted that the 1999 Nigerian Constitution gave the National Assembly the powers to amend the Minimum Wage Act since all national minimum wage issues are on the exclusive legislative list.
Ngige confirmed that organised labour comprising the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), has submitted an official demand for N56,000 minimum wage which is expected.
The minister noted that a technical committee set up in June 2016 to work out modalities for the review of the existing national minimum wage would submit its report to the main committee once it is set up.
Ngige noted that the technical committee was set up “following the government deregulation of the downstream sector of the petroleum industry which culminated in the increase in pump price of premium motor spirit otherwise called petrol from N87 to a band of N135 to N145.”
The main committee to be inaugurated by President Buhari, would have 8 eight cabinet ministers and the secretary to the government of the federation, 3 state governors as well as labour leaders.
The Nation reports that the labour minister hinted that the main committee may be inaugurated in the new week if plans remained on course.
0 comments:
Post a Comment