The President of Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, has revealed their agreement with President Bola Tinubu before they accepted the N70,000 minimum wage.
Speaking during the Morning Show programme on Arise television yesterday, Ajaero claimed that the organised labour turned down the offer of increase in the price of petroleum to accept N70,000 as the new minimum wage.
He also disclosed that after the organized labour had agreed with the president on the Compressed Natural Gas, CNG, alternative, the labour went ahead to negotiate with a team of experts who agreed to convert vehicles to CNG at the rate of N300,000.
But that on meeting with the government team, the officials rejected the NLC deal and instead announced that conversion of vehicles to CNG would cost N800, 000.
Recall that the organised labour comprising the Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress, had insisted on N250,000 as the new minimum wage but later settled for the offer of N70,000 from the President.
In an interview with Saturday Vanguard after the television programme, Mr Ajaero said the workers were on edge as a result of the hike in the price of petroleum products and it was wrong for the president to take action and ask the people to respond.
According to him, “The basis of accepting the N70,000 minimum wage was for the president not to increase the pump price of petroleum products and we made it clear there. If he had gone ahead to increase it, then we need to discuss the implications because we can’t compare N70,000 with what is happening now.
From N700 to where we are now, we are having about a 70% increase and it is telling more on transportation. And there is no CNG bus that is already operating.
“Before you do such a thing anywhere in the world, you consult your social partners. And if you check the implications of the increase on the employers, the manufacturers, the organized private sector, as regards the cost of production, then the issue has to be negotiated.
“The way forward is to reverse it because workers are on edge now to see whether they can go to work or not.
“We need to sit down, governance is for the people, governance is not all about increase in electricity tariff, increase in pump price of petroleum products, increase in taxes, etc. It has to be negotiated, various arms of government have to be involved in it.”
